Courtney Glass and the Faction of Light
by Luke Mason
Summary: In Courtney Glass's third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she and her friends have even more freedom than ever before. But the Light is coming, whatever that means, so Courtney knows that the school could very well be just as dangerous as last year, if not more so. Now, Courtney and her companions will have to face the most morally ambiguous challenge thus far.
1. Chapter 1: New Year, New Questions

Chapter One

New Year, New Questions

Author's Note: _Courtney Glass and the Faction of Light_ is the third installment of the Courtney Glass series. I would not recommend reading this if you have not already read _Courtney Glass and the Castle of Life_ and _Courtney Glass and the Face of Evil_. They can be found here: www,fanfiction,net/s/10866430/1/Courtney-Glass-and-the-Castle-of-Life and www,fanfiction,net/s/11149004/1/Courtney-Glass-and-the-Face-of-Evil. Just replace the periods with commas. Like before, I'd like to thank everyone reading this for sticking with Courtney for another year.

* * *

"Alright, now, cannot be too certain, which classes are you taking this year?" Mum asked.

"I signed up for Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures," Courtney told her.

"You know, if you wanted to study Muggles, you could always ask me," Da pointed out.

"Yes, I know," she laughed. "If I ever need help, you'll be the first one I talk to."

"Ah, so you're just going for the easy O. Can't say I blame you. When I was your age, you know what class I signed up for? _Arithmancy_. Needless to say, by the end of the year I had dropped the course and went crawling to Divination. Well, anyway, time for bigger matters. You're a third-year now, and you know what that means?"

Yes, Courtney knew what that meant. She was very aware this entire conversation of the paper she already had packed that bore both of her parents' signatures. This was the year she and her friends would be able to go to Hogsmeade, a village near Hogwarts that was notably the only all-magical community in Britain.

Courtney nodded, then turned her head when she heard a fluttering sound. A familiar, lightly-colored form flew into the room. "Hedwidgeon," she said.

The barn owl stopped at its usual spot above a table and dropped a letter. Hedwidgeon then turned around before Courtney could say "Thank you" and flew off.

The fact that it was Hedwidgeon told Courtney that the letter she dropped was from either Albus or James Potter, or possibly their cousin Rose Weasley.

"Well, go ahead," Mum said. "I have nothing left to ask about."

Courtney unfolded the letter and started to read.

 _Hey, Courtney!_

 _Don't ask me how (but here's a hint, it starts with an H), but I got the basic Hogsmeade schedule. Get this: the first time we're allowed to go is as early as_ _the first weekend of the term_. _I already told Lynne and she said she would do research on Hogsmeade and plan out a schedule of what to do there. Just thought I should let you know._

 _Also, it's Lily and Hugo's first year now. Naturally, we're all hoping for Gryffindor, and expecting it too, but just in case they do make Hufflepuff be sure to show them the ropes! I already told Lynne the same thing in case they're Ravenclaw. If they're Slytherin… we'll figure something out. Maybe Natalya, or Scorpius if he's not still angry at everything._

 _One last thing, James is making me tell you this: The Light is coming. No idea what that means, since as usual he's not telling me anything, except that it apparently has nothing to do with the LMM._

 _A.S.P._

Right, Lily and Hugo were starting Hogwarts this year. Lily Potter was Albus and James's younger sister, and Hugo Weasley was Rose's younger brother. It's common for family to end up in the same House at Hogwarts, but exceptions were not unheard of.

It starts with an H? That part was tricky. Did Albus find this information from his father, Harry Potter? Or, more likely, from their family friend who works at the school, Professor Hagrid? In her mind, Courtney joked with the idea that somehow Hugo knew about the Hogsmeade schedule.

Planning out a schedule ahead of time for Hogsmeade was very much the sort of thing Courtney could imagine Lynne doing. She had a feeling that Albus would at least insist on going to the WWW while there.

And the last part, the part that gave Courtney a nauseous feeling. The Light. It didn't have to do with the Light Magic Movement, the recent political group that was trying to gain support from the Ministry to repeal the Statute of Secrecy and let Muggles know about magic's existence. The way the letter was worded… _The Light is coming._ It was clearly ominous. After coming face-to-face with impostors, Dementors, Unforgivable Curses - one of which was actually used on her, and another on Lynne - and the Dark Lord Voldemort himself, the idea that there might be something else coming this year _terrified_ her. _Especially_ if James thought it was a good idea not to tell Albus what it meant.

"Anything we should know about?" Da asked.

"Well, Lynne's making a schedule for what to do at Hogsmeade, and Lily Potter and Hugo Weasley are starting school this year." She wanted to tell them about this Light thing, but not until she herself knew something about it.

After she had a chance to talk to James, then she would let them know.

* * *

Immediately after Courtney walked through the barrier (and heard her da complain about missing it yet again) she saw Lynne walking from another barrier to the Hogwarts Express, her owl Wan Shi Tong in tow.

"Hey!" Courtney called out.

Lynne turned slightly and smiled when she saw Courtney. Courtney picked up her speed until she caught up to her.

"Hey, Courtney," Lynne said. They approached an entrance to the train. "Did Al tell you about the first trip yet?"

"It's this weekend," Courtney replied, excited. "He also told me you were making a schedule."

"Indeed I was." By this point, they were both on the train. "I have it in my bag. I'm using it as a bookmark for _Fantastic Beasts_."

"Can't wait to see it."

As usual, they looked through the other compartments to see if Albus was already on the train. After a few looks, they found the one he was in… which was full.

All six seats were taken, by Albus, James, Rose, the two younger ones that Courtney guessed were Lily and Hugo, and, of all people, Scorpius.

"Hey, guys," Courtney said.

"Oh, hey, Lynne, Court," James said. He noted the full compartment. "Sorry about this. _Someone_ refused to leave."

"Shove off," Scorpius said.

"Oh, no, no problem at all," Lynne said. "I saw Elijah in a different compartment, we can just go there."

Courtney was still desperate to talk to James. She mentally screamed at him to use his Time-Turner to show up in the other compartment and explain what he meant about the Light.

When Courtney and Lynne reached the other compartment, where Elijah Garvin and Dekka Augustine sat, they opened the door and entered. By the time the train had started moving, the two remaining seats had been filled by a pair of second-year Hufflepuffs.

James did not show up, visibly or otherwise, for the remainder of the trip to Hogwarts.


	2. Chapter 2: Some Light Conversation

Chapter Two

Some Light Conversation

"RAVENCLAW!"

Many students, including Courtney, clapped as Rae Anne Poitier joined the Ravenclaw table.

"Potter, Lily!" Professor Lochram, the Deputy Headmaster, called out.

Lily stepped up to the front and allowed Lochram to place the Hat on her head. "GRYFFINDOR!" was the almost immediate reply.

More students clapped as the youngest Potter sibling joined her brothers and Rose at the Gryffindor table.

"Pratton, Will!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

As Courtney waited for Hugo's name to come up, Elijah tapped her shoulder. "Hey, Court, there's something I was supposed to tell you about."

"Does it have to do with the Light?" she whispered. Perhaps James was passing a message through him. Then she remembered Elijah's larger commitment. "Or the LMM?"

"What? You know about… never mind, no. Look, just letting you know, Henry lost his toad somewhere in the castle. If you find it - or better yet, get help from Al and Lynne and the others - you know where it goes."

"Alright." Courtney was not going to let that first part go. "So what do you know about this Light?"

"It doesn't exist," Elijah said simply. "It's just this stupid rumor that a bunch of rich purebloods invented. It's about these Muggles, in the present, who want to kill wizards just for 'Muggle reasons'." He put air-quotes around the last words to emphasize how ridiculous that sounded. "It's basically their way of saying the LMM should fail, since Muggles will just try to destroy us anyway."

"Scamander, Lysander!"

Still, though, if James said the Light was coming, and that it had nothing to do with the LMM, what did that mean?

"Um, just in case it is real, though, it wouldn't be that much of an issue, right?" Courtney asked hopefully. "I mean, plenty of places, including Hogwarts, are Unplottable so they wouldn't even be able to find us. And that's even _if_ they could get to places like Diagon Alley without a wizard's help." Her own da needed to use Floo powder to get there.

"Well, if we're talking about fictional worst-case scenarios, then maybe they have wizards working for them," Elijah said with a half-smile. "'That old dodger Arthur Weasley's betraying us all!', they say."

"Weasley, Hugo!" Lochram exclaimed, jolting Courtney's attention from Elijah and to the Hat.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

So both Lily and Hugo made Gryffindor just like their siblings. _What a surprise_ , Courtney thought.

Arthur Weasley… he was Albus's, James's, Lily's, Rose's, and Hugo's grandfather. He was somewhat well-known for being remarkably progressive when it came to Muggles. Where many pureblood wizards thought of Muggles the way Muggles think of worms, Arthur thought of them as though he found worms fascinating.

If the Light was real - if Arthur, of all people, really _was_ betraying wizardkind - then Courtney needed to remember that information so she could let Albus and the others know.

Headmistress Vector stood up. At this point, Courtney noticed that the Sorting Hat had been put away. "Another Sorting has gone smoothly," the middle-aged witch said. "Welcome, all, to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For our new first-years, my name is Professor Vector, and I am the Headmistress here. Here are the announcements for this year.

"Recently, our Divination instructor, Professor Digrattus, has been in poor health. He will still be teaching this year, but wanted to make it clear that, at various times, he will be unable to do so. We have already arranged measures for a temporary substitute instructor whenever it is necessary. That said, we are all hoping for a rapid recovery."

As if in response, Professor Digrattus coughed twice after that, then slinked back.

"Also, after too many _incidents_ in last year's O.W.L. exams..." Vector cast a pointed glare at the Gryffindor table. "We have agreed that, starting this year, Skiving Snackboxes and the standard contents thereof are banned from the castle grounds. Any student caught with them will receive a penalty of upwards of five points, and the Snackboxes will be confiscated. Repeat offenses will receive even harsher punishment. That is all."

* * *

Courtney entered the Hufflepuff common room, which was far noisier than she was used to. Genale was standing off to one side, wearing the Head Girl badge.

The Head Boy and Head Girl had authority above the Prefects, but below the teachers. There was only one of each per year, from the seventh-year class.

Courtney gave a brief congratulation to the girl who had helped her learn the basics two years ago, then went upstairs to the third-year dorm.

* * *

"So you go down this corridor to get to Herbology, this corridor to get to Transfiguration, you go out that door to get to the Quidditch field, or to see Hagrid, this corridor if you want to become a bloody stain on the floor, and this one here to get to Charms. Any questions?"

Lily and Hugo did not respond. Watching them, Courtney could guess exactly which part of James's guide they were focusing on.

"Alright then," James said. "You guys go get with the rest of your class. I have to get to History of Magic."

He separated from them and walked in Courtney's direction.

"Hey," she said to him. "Can we talk?"

"Well, my tour took less time than I thought, so sure. What do you need?"

"You told me, through Albus, that 'the Light' was coming. I checked it out, and apparently it's just a rumor. Not real. And if it were real, your granddad would probably be a traitor. So what exactly do you know about this 'Light'?"

James took out his wand. " _Muffliato_. Can't be too careful. Alright, to be honest, I don't know much. What I do know is that the Aurors have been finding a bunch of messages and signs, all saying the same thing. _The Light is coming_. I didn't know what the Light was but I had a gut feeling it was important, so I told my friends and had Albus do the same."

"So Lynne knows too?"

"And so does Natalya, and probably Malfoy too. So what do you mean about my grandfather being a traitor?"

"Apparently, the Light is a group of Muggles - an imaginary group made up by rich purebloods - who want to kill wizards just because they can. If it is real, though, they'd have to have help from wizards and apparently Arthur Weasley is the most likely suspect." Courtney paused in thought. "Although… if it's just messages and signs saying the Light is coming, then there's a good chance that those were written by the same rich purebloods to make it _seem_ like they were coming."

"It's a possibility," James admitted. "But you know, worst-case scenario-"

"The worst-case scenario is the one we need to prepare for," she agreed.


	3. Chapter 3: Elective Courses

Chapter Three

Elective Courses

"Alright, third-years, welcome to yer first class," Professor Rubeus Hagrid said.

Courtney was standing between Lynne and Dekka, behind Albus, and in front of a Ravenclaw she didn't know. She could see Natalya further up. _Evidently, the elective classes have all four Houses at once._

Hagrid led the crowd of students along the outside of the castle, toward an enclosure where Courtney spotted a few of Hogwarts's hippogriffs.

Strangely ugly and beautiful at the same time in a single beast, the hippogriffs had the bodies of horses, but the head, wings, and front legs of birds. A few were slowly trotting, some eating. Two of them were in the air.

"These here are hippogriffs," Hagrid explained. "Firs' thing you got to know about hippogriffs, they're proud creatures. If you want to even get _close_ to one, you've gotta show proper respect. Watch."

Hagrid looked at the nearest hippogriff in its striking orange eyes. He bowed deeply, bringing his head on par with his waist, without taking his eyes away from the hippogriff. He wasn't even blinking.

After a few moments of tense silence, the hippogriff approached Hagrid and bowed in turn. Hagrid raised an arm and patted the beast gently on its head. "There ya go." He opened one of his many pockets and removed a dead ferret, then tossed it to the hippogriff. "Now, notice how Hothoof walked up to me, not the other way around? That's important. When you deal with hippogriffs, the polite thing to do is to wait for them to make the firs' move. You bow, and if he bows back then it's safe. If he doesn', get out of there fast."

"Now, it's important to let you all know that the Ministry gives hippogriffs three-stars. That means they're a tad dangerous, but an expert can tame them. Good thing, too, since once you earn a hippogriff's trust they can be mighty loyal. Any of you want to try with one of the others?"

A few students stepped forward unsurely, amazed by the beasts. A few others considered the danger too unignorable, and stayed behind.

Lynne was one of the ones who walked toward Hagrid and the hippogriffs. After a few seconds, Courtney decided to follow her.

 _You follow others al-_

 _SHUT UP._

Courtney looked at a small, beige-colored hippogriff. She thought back to Hagrid's instructions and looked the hippogriff in the eye. She bowed, ignoring the light strands of hair that were now partly in her eyes. The hippogriff trotted closer to Courtney. A million thoughts raced through her head, all of them a variation of "Should I be running away now?" She didn't want to have to go to the infirmary this early in the term.

The hippogriff watched her and slowly bowed its head. Courtney rose from her bow and pet the hippogriff, just as Hagrid had done.

"Good job, all of you," Hagrid said. "Let's see now, tha's six points for Gryffindor, five for Ravenclaw, nine for Hufflepuff, and four for Slytherin." One point for each student that showed proper hippogriff etiquette.

The students left the hippogriffs and returned to the rest of the class. Hagrid stopped Courtney and Lynne before they could get there. "Could you tell?" he asked Courtney.

"Tell… what?" she responded.

"The hippogriff you chose. That was Featherby." Seeing her blank expression, he added, "The egg you saved from the niffler firs' year."

Wow. Courtney honestly hadn't realized at the time. Sure the hippogriff she chose was smaller than most of the others, but not small enough that she even considered that it with a two-year-old that she knew before it even hatched.

"And the one you chose was Flankhock," Hagrid added to Lynne.

"Featherby's mother," Lynne remembered, somehow. "Talk about a nice coincidence."

* * *

Professor Karanna's class was noticeably smaller than Hagrid's. Courtney took a seat between Albus and Elijah. Karanna waited patiently for all of the students to finish getting seated before she started speaking.

"Good afternoon, class. I am Professor Julianne Karanna, and this is Muggle Studies. If there is anyone here who is not taking Muggle Studies, I recommend you leave immediately."

When nobody left, Karanna continued. "Good, now open your textbooks to chapter one. We will begin with the question, 'What is a Muggle?'. Now, who thinks they have an idea of what a Muggle is?"

A girl in the back raised her hand. Karanna pointed to her. "A Muggle is a person who doesn't have any magical ability."

"Good. Five points for Ravenclaw."

"I'm a Slytherin."

"Good for you." At the point, Karanna was writing on a board. _NO MAGICAL ABILITY_ _._ "Now, because Muggles have no access to spells, they are forced to use less reliable methods to get by day-to-day, such as digging through mud to find food and water - and the poor things have to do so _without_ wands, so you can imagine… Yes?"

"Um, are you sure about all of that?" Elijah asked.

"Obviously. I am a professor, after all."

 _Technically it's true, just incredibly out of date,_ Elijah wrote in his notebook, making sure Courtney and Albus could see it. Courtney gave him a barely perceptible nod.

"Over the course of this class, we will be covering Muggle tools and weapons, culture, and their remarkably strange beliefs."

Courtney thought about her da, trying to think of something, _anything_ he believed that was particularly strange.

She remembered what Elijah had told her about the imaginary Light; that the purebloods who made it up said they killed wizards "for Muggle reasons". Being a halfblood, it had never really been that obvious to her, but… were wizards, especially purebloods, really that ignorant of Muggles?

"We will be going over one chapter of the textbook each week. Once per month there will be an essay based on what we've covered. After that, the next class will feature an exam."

A few of the students only groaned at that. Elijah had put his hands under the desk to hide his fists.

Karanna _tsk_ ed. "Yes, Hogwarts is still a school, and you will actually be learning and doing work in this class."

Somehow, Courtney doubted there would be very much learning going on in this class.

* * *

Author's Notes: Professor Karanna's class was one of the things I felt were necessary for this story. Muggle Studies was one of the only classes in the original series that got no attention or scenes, though Hermione Granger noted that it would be learning about Muggles from a wizard's perspective. Considering how Arthur Weasley was considered an expert in Muggle matters, yet does not know the function of a rubber duck or how airplanes stay up, it was already clear that wizards don't really know that much about Muggles. Combine that with the need in _Prisoner_ to define "gun" and the fact that Ron thought doctors were some sort of knife maniacs... you get the idea.


	4. Chapter 4: Return to the Room

Chapter Four

Return to the Room

"I talked to James," Lynne told her friends in the Great Hall. "Apparently you guys heard about this 'the Light is coming' thing too."

"Yeah," Courtney replied. "Elijah told me what it is. An imaginary group of Muggles that want to kill wizards, just because. Rich purebloods who don't like the Light Magic Movement created the rumor to make it seem like Muggles were evil. According to James, there have been messages and stuff saying the Light was coming, and he's not taking any chances."

"If the Light is real, we're in trouble," Albus summarized. "And if it's not, then someone wants magical Britain to think it is. Either way, it's a problem. Should we tell Vector about it?"

Lynne shook her head. "What exactly would we tell her? That there _might_ be a Muggle group that wants to kill wizards again? We don't have any information… at least, not yet… Are you both thinking what I'm thinking?"

* * *

The Room of Requirement was a semi-secret room in the Hogwarts castle. Whenever anyone passes it while needing something, the room appears to them in the form they need. If someone desperately needed a restroom, it would be a restroom. If someone was being chased and needed a place to escape, it would be a room where they could not be followed or found.

Over the past couple of years, Courtney and her friends had needed to know the origin of Slytherin House and the reason for the sudden Dementor attacks, so the Room of Requirement had appeared to them with a Pensieve - a container of memories that let them witness the distant past - so they could see firsthand everything they needed to know to solve the years' mysteries.

Now, Courtney, Lynne, and Albus stood in front of the plain wall where the entrance to the Room would appear. "We need to know whether or not the Light is real and what the messages saying it's coming are about." Lynne spoke clearly and without hesitation.

When she finished speaking, the door appeared in front of them. Courtney held it open as they entered.

"Ah, I missed this place," Albus said. "Pensieve, nice to see you again."

The familiar basin was located in the center of the room. Personally, Courtney was slightly disappointed; she'd been hopeful that they might find their old guide, the portrait Cartesius, during their return.

"It looks like we're going in again," Lynne said.

With a nod, Albus approached the Pensieve and stuck his head into the liquid memories. Courtney and Lynne followed.

* * *

"Hey, it's still my turn," a small boy complained.

"You've been using it for half an hour," an older girl told him, snatching the object that Courtney did not recognize from the boy's hands.

"Give it back!" the boy shouted. As he shouted, the girl suddenly started to rise into the air, as though dangled by invisible strings.

"What the- Put me down!"

She fell to the ground, dropping the object in front of the boy. Rather than help the girl up or pick up the fallen object, he simply stared at his hands in amazement.

"Okay, so this kid's a Muggleborn wizard who just found out about his magic," Albus summarized. "And he did it by levitating his sister."

"But that doesn't tell us anything yet," Lynne said. "We don't know if the Light issue is being caused by Muggles or by wizards… We need to know first whether we're supposed to be paying attention to the brother or the sister."

"Wait," Courtney said. "How do you know they're brother and sister?" The room they were in didn't look like a house. For all they knew, these could have been schoolmates, friends.

"Trust me," Lynne said. "They were acting like brother and sister."

"Right, you don't have any siblings," Albus remembered. "Yeah, you're just going to have to trust us on this one."

* * *

The scene changed. Courtney, Lynne, and Albus now stood in a pure white room with two doors. Several people walked through each door and around the room, but Courtney could not make out any distinguishing details. Each of them was wearing an identical thick, heavy sweater - with a hood up - that concealed their body types, a pair of sunglasses, and had their heads entirely wrapped in bandages.

"Anyone else seriously creeped out?" Courtney asked.

"There's a bunch of mummies with hoods and sunglasses. I know I'm creeped out," was Lynne's reply.

"The first letter is B," one of the hooded figures said in an inhuman voice.

"Great," another said. "I'll get the RLG. You show me the map."

* * *

Suddenly they were back in the Room of Requirement. The Pensieve had removed them quickly after that.

"That's it?" Albus questioned. "Only two scenes? We didn't learn anything!"

"Still, this proves something is going on," Lynne said. "Right now, we don't have enough information to tell a teacher. But later, in Ravenclaw Tower, I'm going to write down what we did find out. 'The first letter is B'. There's some creeps dressed in sweaters and bandages. And that Muggleborn kid is probably involved."

"Don't forget the letters RLG," Albus added. "And the map."

"And while we're at it, the bandage creeps didn't sound human," Courtney offered. "We should look into what kind of magical creatures still walk and talk like people."

"Thanks," Lynne said. "I'll see if I can figure anything out before we get to Hogsmeade."

* * *

Author's Note: Ever since I began writing fanfiction, I have operated under the principle that you must love what you work with. That is why my only fanfictions have been based on works that I enjoyed as a child and still enjoy today - Pokémon, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and, of course, Harry Potter. Recently, however, I have been more-or-less instructed to start a fanfiction based on a series that I am less fond of. A retelling of the story, but made… better. I suppose the best analogy for what I am supposed to do is to bake a delicious meal using only rotten ingredients. My upcoming story is called Last Gleaming. I will not stop working on the Courtney Glass series; however, due to Last Gleaming, updates may become less frequent. I am sorry for the inconvenience.

On a side note, please don't bother looking for my ASoUE fanfiction, for it was never actually posted online.


	5. Chapter 5: Honeydukes

Chapter Five

Honeydukes

"See you later," Albus said to James, Lily, and Hugo.

"James isn't coming?" Courtney asked.

"Not allowed," James said. "I've got detention. It's a long story. I'm sure Asmius will tell it later. Vector confiscated my… you-know-what." He pointed to his chest to make sure none of them misunderstood that he was talking about the Time-Turner.

"What the-? Detention on _the first week_?" Rose sputtered. "How is that _possible_ , even for you?"

"Like I said, it's a long story. Er, but just in case, if you happen to meet someone named Gail Collier or Rita Skeeter, do _not_ let them know that you know me. It's for your safety. Well, see you when you get back!"

Courtney, Lynne, Albus, and Rose made their last goodbyes to the others before leaving Hogwarts. The ancient caretaker, Mr. Filch, stood at the entrance, holding a long roll of parchment with students' names written on it. He glanced at them, and without talking, crossed another four names off the list with a small quill.

"This is the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year," Professor Torrindale said when the last of the students were out of the castle. "I see plenty of third-years here, so for many of you this is your first visit. Just so you're fully aware, none of the teachers have to come on Hogsmeade weekends, but you can always expect at least one of us to be there in case of emergency. Anyway, follow me. Hogsmeade is right this way…"

Hogsmeade, the only community in Britain to be composed entirely without Muggles, was within walking distance of Hogwarts Castle. Courtney didn't know why, but for some reason, she expected to be taking the train.

Among the students in their group, Courtney mostly recognized some of the other third-years - most of her classmates in Hufflepuff, Scorpius and Natalya from Slytherin. Apart from Albus, Rose, and Lynne, she didn't know very many Ravenclaws or Gryffindors in third-year, although she did see Wes and Gwen, two seventh-years who were on Gryffindor's Quidditch team last year.

"So, it shouldn't take too long to tell you what I found," Lynne said. "Practically nothing. I looked through some pictures of former students - all the most memorable ones have at least some record of them - but none of them looked very much like the boy from the Pensieve. As for 'It starts with B', that one had more results, but I can't think of anything to narrow it down.

"Then there's RLG. That one took some work, but I still have no idea what it could be. There were a few students with those initials in the last fifty years, but none of them stood out. I couldn't find any spells or potions or items with those initials at all. We're pretty much in the dark."

"Why would the Pensieve give us _so little_ information?" Albus complained. "Every time before this, it gave us just enough for us to work it out, but there's no way that was enough."

Rose, who had already been informed of what they had seen in the Pensieve, took on a thoughtful expression. "Maybe there's something else we need to know to interpret the messages. Or maybe we're supposed to go there later for more information."

Was that even possible? Could the Room of Requirement seriously _know_ what information would be useful, and actually hide information that wouldn't be useful until later? Courtney's Mum had made it clear in the past that Divination was far from reliable, but the way Rose described it, the Room's Divination would be infallible. It _is_ made by the magic of the Founders, and Courtney had seen firsthand how powerful they were…

"Well, we can keep an eye out for this when we get back to Hogwarts," Lynne said. "For now, to Honeydukes!"

A good amount of the other students had the same idea. Honeydukes was a sweet shop, and a very popular one. So naturally, many of the third-years decided to make that their first stop at Hogsmeade.

"Looks like the place is going to be crowded," Courtney observed. "Maybe we should wait and do some other things until the line is shorter."

"If we do that," Lynne said, smiling widely. "Then we'd be going through Hogsmeade without beans."

"You make a great point," Albus laughed.

When they entered Honeydukes, Courtney immediately started scanning the area, looking for the Bertie Botts Every-Flavored Beans. She found them on a shelf about a second after Rose did.

"Thinking we should just get one container and split it," Albus said.

"While we're here we should also get some sugar quills or something for Hugo and Lily," Rose added.

Courtney reached for the container of beans, but her hand collided with that of another kid reaching for the same container.

"Oh, sorry about that, Glass," Scorpius Malfoy said absently. He took the bean container right behind the one they both reached for, then walked away.

"Hey, wait," Rose said. Scorpius glanced at her. "What's going on? We haven't heard anything from you since... since last year."

Since he had spent a good deal of time under Lord Voldemort's Imperius Curse. Since he had been forced to put the same curse on Elijah. Since he had tried to kill them all, including Natalya.

Since he admitted to Courtney that he still blamed himself for not being strong enough to fight off the Imperius.

But still... they had been on the Hogwarts Express together, and Scorpius hadn't said a word to the Potters or the Weasleys?

"Been busy is all," he muttered. "How've you lot been?"

"Busy," Lynne echoed. Her face lit up in realization. "Say, you're a rich pureblood, right? Do you know anything about a group called the Light?"

His eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I've heard of them. Bunch of Muggles who hate wizards and want to kill us, like that Holtz you saw about two years ago."

Holtz was an ancient Muggle who had been friends with Salazar Slytherin. He was incredibly anti-magic and never knew that Salazar was a wizard. After Slytherin went against Muggles and left Hogwarts, the first thing he did was murder Holtz.

"We've heard that the Light is real, and it's coming," Albus summarized. "And the Pensieve in the Room of Requirement is being even more cryptic than usual about it."

"Well, I haven't heard anything about it. If I do... I'll let you know."

Scorpius went to the front, silently paid for his beans, and walked away.


	6. Chapter 6: End of the Trip

Chapter Six

End of the Trip

"Welcome to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes," a thin redheaded man in a magenta robe said with a smile.

"Hey, Dad," Rose replied.

Lynne's eyes widened. "You're _the_ Ron Weasley?"

"The one and only," Mr. Weasley answered. "Nice to see you both again. And I guess you're Al's friends Lynne and Courtney?"

"That's us," Lynne replied.

"And we're also Rose's friends," Courtney added.

"Good to know," Weasley said. "Well, take a look around, and if you need help with anything, don't hesitate to ask me or another employee."

"Just remember, no Skiving Snackboxes," Albus said.

The shelves of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes were lined with all sorts of products. Most were joke items - fake wands, ordinary-looking candles enchanted to explode, Every-Flavored Beans that were reduced to only the disgusting flavors. Others were more serious products of self defense that sold well during the war over twenty years ago. Portable Shield Charms, Peruvian instant-darkness powder, decoy detonators. There was also a set of various love potions some completely unenchanted Muggle magic tricks.

"Check this out," Courtney said. "A headless hat. Put it on, and it'll disappear along with your head."

"Neat, but it only affects the head," Albus replied. "I'm still holding out hope that James will let me borrow the Cloak at some point. The decoy detonators seem cool, though." He grabbed a couple of them off the shelf.

"So your dad runs this place?" Lynne asked.

"He's co-manager with Uncle George," Rose answered. "Dad mostly takes care of this one, and Uncle George gets the one in Diagon Alley."

"To be honest, I'd always heard he was an Auror," Courtney said.

"He was," Rose said simply. "And now he's not. Huh. The Extendable Ears look neat."

* * *

As they left the store, saying goodbye to Mr. Weasley, Courtney put her new Comb-a-Chameleon into her bag.

"So what else is on the list?" Albus asked Lynne.

"Well, there's the Shrieking Shack. It's off-limits though, because it's haunted."

"So's Hogwarts," a passing student told them. Courtney had to agree. With all of the ghosts, like Myrtle, how could anyone say Hogwarts _wasn't_ haunted?

Albus looked at the Shack in the distance. "It may be off-limits, but James says there's a secret passageway from the castle that leads straight to the shack."

"How does James keep _knowing_ stuff?" Rose questioned. "Even with the Cloak and the Time-Turner, it's a huge castle and there's got to be a limit to how much exploring he can do."

"Anyone else want to get James later and ask him how to get there?" Albus asked with a grin.

"You know that would be against the rules," Lynne said with mock scolding. "Yeah, I'm definitely in."

"Can't say no, really," Rose added. "Courtney?"

Courtney thought about it for a moment. They _would_ be breaking the rules, and James might not even have a secret passageway, and what if the haunted shack really was more dangerous than Hogwarts, and...

"Yeah. I'm in."

A part of Courtney's mind remembered what the Sorting Hat had told her. _You follow..._

 _Seriously. Shut up. You've stopped being useful._

"So is it just the four of us, and maybe James, or are we inviting Scorpius or Natalya or Elijah?" Rose asked.

"If we see one of them, we invite them," Albus decided. "But we don't have to go out of our way."

"Well, we can't talk to James until after we get back to Hogwarts," Lynne said. "So for now, the next place on our list is… your choice. Either Spintwitches or Tomes and Scrolls."

"Spintwitches!" Albus and Rose both said immediately.

"Well, that was settled quickly," Courtney laughed.

Spintwitches was a shop that specialized in sporting goods. Naturally, most of the products were for Quidditch - Quaffles, training Bludgers, some inexpensive broom models, clubs, memorabilia from some of the more famous teams, _Quidditch Through the Ages_. That said, there was an assortment of wares for other sports. Exploding Quaffles, guidebooks on flying seahorses, Gobstones.

Courtney looked around at merchandise from the Harpies - her favorite team.

"Huh," Rose said, eyeing an exploding Quaffle. "So this is for that American Quidditch, Quodpot."

"Yeah," Lynne replied. "Normal Quidditch never became popular in the states like here, so they made a version with different rules and explosions."

"Neat," Albus said. He took the Quaffle in his hands. "Never really learned the rules but it shouldn't be too hard."

Courtney looked at Lynne. "Just to make sure, Hogwarts doesn't have any rules against those, does it?"

"I doubt it. Most people don't really play Quodpot, so I imagine nobody ever got around to making a rule about it."

"Even better," Albus said.

* * *

When they were finished exploring the different shops, they joined Lochram and the other students in leaving.

"Hey," Rose whispered to the others. "I see Scorpius, Elijah, and Natalya. I'm going to invite them to our trip to the Shack, okay?"

"Go ahead," Albus encouraged.

"Just remember, we're still not a hundred percent sure we'll be able to get in," Lynne said. "Make sure you let them know that."

"Thanks," Rose replied. She broke away from them, first toward Scorpius and Natalya. Then, after a few moments of talking, to Elijah.

"They'll be there," she confirmed upon returning. "If we can, that is. And Elijah might be bringing someone named Brent."

"More the merrier," Courtney said with a smile.

"That's normally true but not when we're breaking the rules," Lynne noted. "But having nine people isn't _that_ much worse than having eight."

"Excellent," Albus said. "I'll talk to James and then we go at the first opportunity. When the time is right."

* * *

Author's Note:

It was mentioned late in the Harry Potter series that the Weasley twins wanted to buy the space at Zonko's for WWW. When the series ended, it was never made clear whether or not George had done so, and Rowling has yet to clarify. For the purposes of this story, this did happen. Unfortunately, unlike Courtney's wand and Myrtle's surname, this one is involved in the story so much that I won't be able to easily edit this should Rowling decide that Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes never made it to Hogsmeade.

Also, my apologies for the delay.


	7. Chapter 7: Fire Crabs

Chapter Seven

Fire Crabs

"Chapter Two," Professor Karanna introduced to the class. With the others, Courtney obediently turned the page in her textbook.

"A significant part of Muggle culture comes from finding substitutes for magic," Karanna said. "Among the contraptions they've needed to make is called a _bow_." She produced the wooden Muggle weapon from a bag far too small to hold it without magic. "The bow is, essentially, a less accurate, less effective, and more difficult to use variant of the Killing Curse."

Albus and Elijah both passed notes to Courtney. She read Elijah's note first. _Totally false. Muggles don't even know about magic, so their society can hardly be all about finding substitutes. Plus, bows aren't just for killing AND Muggles have come up with better weapons since then. So. Out. Of. Date._

Next she read Albus's note. _I talked to James. The secret passageway is at the Whomping Willow. He's taking us this Saturday. Rose already knows. She's telling Scorpius and Natalya in Ancient Runes._

After she finished reading the notes, Courtney passed Albus's note to Elijah and vice-versa.

"Now, I'll admit, Muggles can be quite clever in their own right with their non-magical tricks. Without the aid of _Incendio_ they've come up with making fire from, of all things, the spark from a pair of stones or branches hitting each other, if you'll believe it."

 _Wait until she finds out about lighters,_ Courtney thought.

Karanna's heavily outdated and condescending lecture on Muggle technology continued for the entire two hour class. There was so much objectionable content that even Elijah didn't bother correcting the Professor; he had no idea where to start.

Courtney kept rote copying the lecture, focusing only on two things: her meeting with her friends at the Shack and her next class.

* * *

"This here's called a fire crab." Professor Hagrid indicated one of a group of twelve tortoises with bejewelled shells. "First thing I should tell you, they shoot fire when they get scared. Because of that, you need a license to buy one, and Carroway's loaned fireproof dragonhide gloves for anyone who's learnin' to take care of 'em."

Hagrid proceeded to approach one of the fire crabs, tapping a steady beat on his knee. "This part's important. The noise keeps 'em calm. Always keep a free hand for it. Course, you could click your tongue, but this way's easier and works better."

Courtney became very aware of the singe marks on Hagrid's beard.

He took a fish from a bucket with one hand without pausing his tapping. "Most fire crabs only eat plants. This is one of the only two breeds that'll eat fish, and even it needs vegetables every other feeding at least. All the others here'll get cabbage when you feed 'em and I take care of the rest after class."

Hagrid dropped the fish onto the ground about half a meter from the fire crab. Still tapping his knee, he knelt down and pushed the fish closer until the fire crab accepted the fish and took a tiny bite.

"There ya go." Hagrid walked away from the fire crab and looked at the students. "Alright, now it's your turn, if you want."

As had become standard in Hagrid's class, the students broke apart. Some students stayed behind and listened while taking notes to Hagrid's explanation on the proper way to clean the fire crabs' homes. Others put on the dragonhide gloves and started tapping their knees as Hagrid had shown.

Courtney and Lynne were among the latter group. Courtney figured the notes would always be available, and so would the textbook, but this would be one of the only times they would have the chance to practice.

"Hey," Courtney said to Lynne without taking her eyes off the fire crab. "James knows the way. We're going Saturday."

"Sounds great," Lynne said. "Wait, doesn't James have tryouts on Saturday?"

"I don't know." Did he? It was around the same time of year that the Gryffindor Quidditch team had its tryouts last year. Courtney _knew_ that James was a proud member of the team. Why didn't she know when he'd be trying out again?

Lynne tore off a chunk of lettuce and gave it to a fire crab. Noticing Courtney's worry, she added, "You know, I think it's actually next week. I could be wrong, though. I'll ask James or Rose on Saturday."

Satisfied, but still slightly upset, Courtney focused on her fire crab.

* * *

When Courtney returned to the Hufflepuff common room, she took a look at the schedule. After confirming that she had Asmius the next morning, she picked up her Transfiguration textbook and started skimming the chapter.

A loud crash took her from her thoughts. "Come on, really?" a voice said in the background. Courtney looked up to see Duncan, one of the sixth-year Prefects, carrying a jar full of white stones suspended in ice and taking a girl Courtney didn't recognize to the dorm entrance.

"What's going on?" Henry asked, only half paying attention.

Duncan sighed. "Nothing. This happens every year. Go ahead, Lindsay, tell them."

Lindsay was silent for a moment. "I… tried sneaking items from the Potions cabinet into the dorm."

"Wait, what?" Genale asked, peeking her head out from the seventh-year girls dorm. "This early in the year? Isn't it not usually until February or March?"

"I'm sure Professors Vector and Cassius will have an explanation," Duncan said. "This can't be the first time it's happened in September."

Duncan led Lindsay out of the common room. Courtney looked back at her textbook, trying to focus on Transfiguration. But her thoughts kept going back to the jar of potion ingredients that Lindsay had taken.

Why did those white stones look so familiar?

* * *

Author's Note: Again, my apologies for the delay. Hopefully, there won't be any more waits this long between chapters.


	8. Chapter 8: Are You, Are You

Chapter Eight

Are You, Are You?

"Hey, Wil, if anyone asks, Courtney and I went to Ravenclaw Tower."

It was Saturday, and Courtney and Elijah were almost out of the common room.

"Okay," Willow said. "Just between you and me, though, are you _really_ going there?"

"Yeah," Courtney replied. Willow frowned, then shrugged.

"Alright. See you tomorrow then."

Elijah crawled through the tunnel, followed by Courtney. Courtney mentally braced herself for yet another reminder of what the Sorting Hat had told her, but it never came.

"Well, I guess our first stop is Ravenclaw Tower, meet up with Lynne and Brent."

"I thought we were all just meeting up at the tree," Elijah reminded.

"I know, but... do you really want to have lied to Willow?"

" _I_ didn't lie. I just asked her to tell the others if they ask. You're the one who told her we were actually going there. That said, I see your point. Let's get to Ravenclaw."

Courtney and Elijah walked through the castle corridors. Courtney had been to Ravenclaw Tower enough times that by now she had no problem finding her way.

* * *

"A harsh evil where you know, but beauty in the home." Courtney and Elijah stared at the Ravenclaw door knocker.

"Do you have any idea?" Elijah asked. Courtney shook her head. "Alright, then let's solve this like Ravenclaws. Evil where we know, but beauty in the home. That means the home can't be somewhere we know."

"Maybe it's like people?" Courtney suggested. "In their minds, I mean. Like how Salazar Slytherin seemed evil where we knew him but he was actually a good guy when we saw him in his own home time." She looked at the door. "Is that the right answer? People?"

"That is a very good guess, but I am afraid it is incorrect."

"Dang. Thought you had it." Elijah sat down and folded his hands together in thought. At that moment, the door opened. Lynne stepped out of the Ravenclaw common room, along with a boy that Courtney didn't know personally.

"Hey, Brent. Hey, Lynne. You ready?" Elijah said.

"Hey," Lynne replied. "I thought we were all just meeting there."

"I told Wil we were coming here," Courtney said. "So here we came."

"So you're Elijah and Lynne's friend." Brent held out a hand. "Nice to meet you, Courtney." Courtney accepted the handshake, but Brent pulled his hand back with a " _Psyche!_ "

"So does this mean we're also going to Gryffindor Tower or the Slytherin dungeon?" Lynne asked.

"Nope. Now we head straight for the tree," Elijah said.

The rest of the path was somewhat harder. Though all four of them have wandered the corridors of Hogwarts, none of them had ever gone to the outside at this hour. Half of the moving staircases were not where they needed them to be, and they couldn't ask portraits for directions while they were just getting to sleep.

Eventually, they arrived outside the castle. The air was unsurprisingly cold. It was only a few moments before the Gryffindors showed up.

"Alright." James clapped his hands together. "I'm guessing you're Brent? Okay, so we're waiting for Scorpius and Natalya because I'm only going to show you how to get past the tree once. After tonight, you are free to come to the Shack whenever you feel like it, but only if you let me know first because I might be there with my own people. Also only if you're okay with the fact that every time you come here you're breaking school rules."

"You have your own people?" Elijah asked.

"Sure. Wes and Dani and Gwen… I have a life outside Albus and Rose's friends, you know."

"Suuuure you do," Brent joked.

A figure came out toward the group. After a minute they could see that it was Natalya. She spoke to the others once she was close. "Hey, guys. Scorpius can't make it tonight, so it's just me."

"What happened?" Rose asked.

"Sick? Detention?" Albus offered.

Natalya shook her head. "Didn't say, but I doubt it's detention. So, we ready?"

"Yeah," James said. He pointed to the Whomping Willow, which was just far enough away that it wasn't attacking any of the group. "See that knot on the tree? If you touch the knot, it'll freeze for a little while. Then it'll be safe to climb down under the roots, which is where the secret passage is. Observe."

James gripped his wand and ran toward the Whomping Willow. The branches swung at him quickly. He ducked under the first, then wrapped his arm around the second. The second branch swung through the air, carrying James with it. Despite the wild thrashing James slid his arms down the branch, getting closer to the base of the tree. He hung upside down from the branch, still swinging, until he finally managed to strike the knot with his hand.

The Whomping Willow stopped moving, and James got down from its branches. "Or you could just hit it with a rock or something," James added as an afterthought. "But that's less fun."

James led the group down beneath the roots. As he had told them, there was an underground passage within. At the other end was the inside of the Shrieking Shack.

"It still amazes me how much you know about this place," Albus said. "Even with your… _you-know-what_ , how'd you know to hit the knot in the tree?"

"Actually, Teddy taught me that trick. Well, this is the Shrieking Shack, either the most haunted building in magical Britain or second only to Azkaban itself."

"You'd think the haunted building would have ghosts," Brent muttered. "Come on, where are they?"

"Beats me. I've come here quite a few times since my third year and I've never seen any ghosts inside. The _real_ sweet thing about the Shack is that there are no doors, no windows, and wards against Apparition. Unless you know about the secret passage, nobody can get in. For the record, the professors don't know about the secret passage. So this place is technically safe for any rule-breaking you feel like."

"We're not actually planning any rule-breaking meetings here," Lynne pointed out. "At least not yet. So what do we do?"

"Oh, right," James walked toward a wall and revealed his wand. "You might as well mark that you guys were here. _Aparecium!_ " Suddenly, a list of letters appeared on the wall. Each item on the list was two letters, side-by-side. Both the top and bottom of the list bore the letters _J.P._ "Just put your initials in at the bottom. They'll vanish as soon as the Revealing Charm wears off."

Lynne produced a quill and passed it around. One by one, each of the group wrote their initials on the wall. _A.P._ , _R.W._ , _N.F._ , _E.G._ , _B.C._ , _L.I._ , and _C.G._

Courtney couldn't help but look at some of the other initials on the list. Right above the last _J.P._ were the letters _T.L._ Was that Teddy? And the sheer number of letters above them… _H.P._ , _R.W._ , _H.G._ , _L.E._ , _V.L…_.

Wait… V.L.? As in Vander Lochram? Had the Defense Professor been among the people who've been in here? She scanned the wall for more professors' initials… _N.L._ , _F.A._ , _R.H._ There was no way to know for sure, but now Courtney had to wonder just how sure James was that none of the professors knew about the secret tunnel.

* * *

Author's Note: Yes, the title of this chapter was necessary. Also, special bonus to anyone who can actually figure out the answer to the Ravenclaw riddle.


	9. Chapter 9: Vector's Army?

Chapter Nine

Vector's Army?

James rushed in with clear purpose. _To protect_. That was his only mission.

The Quaffle collided with his broom and soared out into the air, but Genale was too quick. She caught the Quaffle midflight and started to speed back toward James. Suddenly, she stopped short when Gwen slammed the Bludger right into Genale's path.

In the stands, Courtney, Lynne, Albus, and Rose watched with intense interest.

"Genale's pretty good, I'll give her that," Lynne said.

"I've seen the Gryffindor team practice," Rose told them. "Any of our Chasers would have kept going even with the Bludger there."

"And then gotten knocked off their broom, probably losing their grip on the Quaffle," Lynne completed. "That's what makes Genale good. Not her speed or agility, but her knowing that there is a time when it is actually a good thing for a Chaser to stop."

"Trouble is, it doesn't really matter how good she is at moving the Quaffle around," Albus pointed out. "If her offense isn't as good as James's defense, then Hufflepuff is outright not going to score."

"At max speed, a Quaffle will outfly any broom," Lynne argued. "If James gets caught off-guard even once, then he won't be able to get it fast enough."

"Unless he does that thing where he stands on the broom and reaches out," Courtney said helpfully.

"Hey guys," they heard someone say. Scorpius stepped into their row of the bleachers and sat down beside them. "Sorry I'm late. What's the-"

"Gryffindor ten, Hufflepuff twenty!" the commentator announced.

"Well, that answers that question." He smiled.

"Maybe it would still be ten-ten if James stood on his broom," Courtney muttered.

"Well, come on, spill" Rose said. "You've been moody since we were on the train here, you haven't talked to any of us since the first Hogsmeade trip and you didn't come with us last week when we met up. And now you're all smiley, which you never were, even the last couple years. So what's up? What's going on that's making little Scorpy so weird?"

Scorpius's smile dropped. "First, don't call me Scorpy. That is not a thing. Second, sorry. I was quite busy last week and could not make it, but Natalya told me the trick with the knot."

"Well, when you have time, let us know and we'll take you there so you can put your initials in. Mark that you were there."

"Gryffindor twenty, Hufflepuff twenty!"

"Oh, god! Did you see that?" Albus said. "That was an awesome use of the Bludger there."

"Yeah, it was," Rose admitted. "I'm really impressed with how well the Beaters are working with the Chasers, and everything. Dad always made it seem like the Chasers had one job, the Seekers had another job, the Beaters had a different job, and the Keepers were just supposed to stop the Chasers. The only reason it was one sport was that they were all on the same field. But here, it's like each player is _aware_ of everyone else on their team, helping each other out in the same strategies…"

"Yeah, it's definitely amazing," Lynne breathed.

On the pitch, Wes and Charlie - one of Hufflepuff's Beaters - fought for control of the Bludgers, while the Chasers expertly maneuvered their way around their clash.

"Gwen, you're closer to that Bludger than I am. Go for offense number three!"

Gwen hit the nearest Bludger, aiming for one of Hufflepuff's Chasers. The Chaser got out of the way, but by then, Wes had already hit it back, closer to her. Gwen swung it back. The Chaser kept inching further from the oncoming assault until she finally started flying swiftly in the other direction…

… and crashed her broom right into Hufflepuff's Seeker.

The Snitch, only a few inches from the crash, floated away.

"Ouch. He _had it_ , too!" the commentator exclaimed.

"You see? That's what I mean," Rose said. "You've got Beaters focusing on Chasers to get them to interfere with Seekers. All seven players are part of the same team, playing the same game…"

"This is the best performance I've ever seen from a Hogwarts team," Albus said. "At this point it looks like there's no way for Gryffindor to lose."

"It's still early, and it'll all come down to the Snitch," Courtney reminded them. "Hufflepuff still has a chance."

* * *

"Man, that ruled," Albus was saying.

"Shut up," Courtney said.

"I knew Gryffindor would win, but even so…"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up."

" _Two hundred_ to _twenty_?"

"Yeah, he's right," Scorpius said, barely suppressing a laugh. "Sorry, Courtney. That was a pretty pathetic defeat for your House."

"You shut up, too." But Scorpius only laughed even harder at that. "Rose, tell him to shut up."

"Yeah, this is just starting to get funny," Rose said. "I think I'm going to let it play out, see where it goes."

After a few seconds of silence, she continued. "Well. That was disappointing."

"Hey, do any of you know what time it is?" Scorpius asked suddenly.

Electronics didn't work in places like Hogwarts with too much magical energy, so telling time was fairly limited to celestial measuring, magical timepieces, and mechanical devices. Thankfully, Lynne was wearing a mechanical wristwatch for exactly that reason.

"Almost one. Why?"

"I'm supposed to be at the Slytherin common room at one-thirty. I should probably get moving soon."

* * *

1\. What percentage of the British Muggle population is legally considered homeless (as of 2018 census)?

2\. Give three of the names that Muggles have used to describe yeti sightings.

3\. What is the function of a rubber duck?

4\. Of the options below, which two are regulated by the Muggle Protection Act of 1992?

Courtney read over the list of Ministry-prepared test questions. Absolutely none of these things were covered during Karanna's classes. Courtney's da was a Muggle, so she had learned enough before Hogwarts to answer at least _some_ of the questions, but she couldn't imagine how much trouble the pureblooded students were having.

After writing down her best guesses, the material she learned from Da, and one answer that she actually learned from Binns (a phrase she never thought she would use), she turned in her exam.

"That was bull," Elijah said when the tests were done. "None of those questions were even mentioned during class, and at least seventy-five percent were more about wizard-Muggle relations than about Muggles themselves."

"Preaching to the choir," Albus muttered. "How has Karanna kept her job teaching Muggle Studies for… How long has she been teaching this class?"

"At least four years," an overhearing Gryffindor said.

"Four years. _Four. Years._ At _least_. I rest my case."

Albus left to go upstairs with the other Gryffindors to Torrindale's class. Courtney and Elijah kept going toward the greenhouses while comparing answers.

"We're not even close to the end of the year," Elijah finally said when they got to the greenhouse. "If any of us is going to do well on the later, harder exams… or, more importantly, actually _learn_ stuff about Muggles, we've got to do something different."

"Like what?" Courtney asked earnestly. "How do we - and everyone else - learn anything if the professor doesn't even have a clue what she's teaching?"

Not far from them, Professor Longbottom chuckled.

* * *

The boy was asleep beside them. Technically, he wasn't really asleep, but then again he wasn't awake either. None of them even wanted to think of a term to describe his state.

"What have you gotten from the RLG?" someone finally asked.

"Two more letters," was the response. "E and A."

"And what has Aleksander gotten, do you know?"

"Nothing yet. I think he may have been taken out - or worse, compromised - but I'm still holding out hope a little longer that he might just have trouble finding the time to contact us."

"We'll be generous. One month. If we don't hear word from him in one month, we're going to Hogwarts."


	10. Chapter 10: Scheduling

Chapter Ten

Scheduling

"Absolutely not."

"How come?" Elijah demanded.

James sighed. "You know why the Shrieking Shack exists? It was built so that a werewolf child could come to school at Hogwarts and still have a safe place to be once a month. For the entire seven years he was there, the Shack was _his_ , and nobody ever went in except the friends that he invited there. Since then, the Shrieking Shack has traditionally had _one_ person who makes the decisions on who comes and goes and knows about the Shack. And ever since Teddy graduated, that one person is _me_. So until I graduate from Hogwarts, I have the right to decide whether someone should be allowed to enter. And when I do graduate, either Al or Rose is going to be my heir. I haven't decided yet."

"But this is important -" Courtney attempted.

"I get that. I do. But, frankly, if you want to teach your classmates important stuff they need to know because the professor is terrible at her job, do it in the Room of Requirement like _everyone else_."

"Huh." Elijah thought for a moment. "That might actually work."

* * *

"So why exactly does it have to be secret?" Albus asked.

"Somehow, I doubt Karanna would really approve of an entire group existing because of her incompetence," Courtney replied.

"You really think that'll work?" Lynne asked.

She, Courtney, and Albus were in the Great Hall. Courtney had just told her friends what they were planning on doing in the Room of Requirement.

"Yeah. Elijah knows plenty about Muggles, so he'll be able to teach stuff that Karanna would never cover - stuff that's not even in the book." A sea of images appeared in Courtney's mind - images of doctors like the ones her father visited, of spacecraft built entirely by Muggles breaking free of the atmosphere, of computers so advanced they could be confused for living people, of the books about a totally different magical world that Lynne loved so much. The triumphs and beauties of Muggle society, a notion that Karanna would probably laugh at.

"I'm in," Albus said. "I can talk to Granddad. He's the country's leading expert on Muggles."

His words reminded Courtney that there was even more going on than Muggle Studies. Albus's grandfather. Arthur Weasley. The wizard suspected by the upper class purebloods for giving information to the Light.

"So should this just be for people taking Muggle Studies, or for everyone?" Lynne questioned.

"Well, I was hoping you'd be there," Courtney told her. "And others like Rose and Natalya and Scorpius and Brent. People we trust. And they can bring in the people they trust and as long as everyone who really wants to learn is there, we don't have to worry about Karanna."

"Let's start with just the eight of us for now," Albus suggested. "Two from each House. Then we can bring in more people once everything is clear."

Courtney started thinking about who she would trust not to tell the professor about this. Willow and Dekka, definitely. Polaris… less so. Then again, she was a pureblood, so she probably needed the Muggle lessons more than anyone in Hufflepuff.

"I'll tell Rose about this," Albus offered.

"I'll work out a schedule of when we can do this," Lynne added. "Of course, I'll need someone from each House to give me the class schedules."

"I can give you Hufflepuff's schedule," Courtney said. "Let's meet up by the Room of Requirement with a Gryffindor and a Slytherin tonight."

* * *

"We need a quiet place where we can freely work," Rose told the wall.

The familiar door to the Room of Requirement appeared before them. Rose opened the door… and a group of three sixth-years started to walk out. One of them was carrying an owl that was gradually changing colours from blue to yellow.

"Oh," one of them said awkwardly. "Uh… pretend you didn't see us." The sixth-years hurried away, with mutters of "I _told_ you others might be there!"

"What was that?" Courtney wondered.

Lynne shrugged. "It's not like we're the only people in Hogwarts who use the Room. It's a big school and not everyone is, well… you know…"

"A Hufflepuff," Scorpius finished.

Courtney tried objecting to that, but could not think of anything in particular to say. So she glared at him to get her point across. With nothing else to say, Courtney, Lynne, Rose, and Scorpius walked through the doorway.

A decent-sized table sat in the center of the Room. The walls contained rows of parchment and quills. Balls of orange light hovered around the Room, illuminating but not blinding, not even when Courtney looked directly at them.

"I brought Beans, if anyone wants," Lynne said.

"Aw, that's my job," Courtney joked. "Thanks."

"Sweet. I'm cool with that," Rose accepted.

"Thanks," Scorpius said. "But I kind of want to focus on the scheduling."

Lynne took a parchment and a quill from the wall. Each of the others placed their copy of the House schedule on the table.

"Okay, so I've figured out that Astronomy and Potions are the farthest classrooms from the Room of Requirement," Lynne told the others. "It looks like… Thursday is the next day that none of the third-years, in any House, will have either of those classes. So we'll schedule the first meeting for Thursday. Anyone have an issue with that?"

Courtney said nothing. Neither did Scorpius. Rose did a few mental calculations, then shook her head.

Lynne drew a vertical line and wrote "Thursday" at the top. Down the line, on the left side, she labelled several times, from midnight to midnight in thirty minute increments.

"I doubt we'll be meeting here that late, but we should still look over the whole day," she explained. She looked at the Ravenclaw schedule to see when her classes were. Then she crossed off those times from the list. Then she took Courtney's schedule and repeated that. Then Rose's, then Scorpius's. "Okay, so none of us have any classes from four to five… unless there's any electives at that time. Anyone?" A pause. "Perfect. So we can meet up between those times. I'll tell Brent, you guys tell Albus, Elijah, and Natalya."

"You know, these schedules only apply to third-years," Scorpius pointed out. "Once we take in James, or really any of the older students, all of their classes will be at different times. The times will have to be adjusted. A lot."

"We can cross _that_ bridge when we get to it," Rose told him. "For now, this is perfect."

* * *

Des focused on the target and pointed his wand. " _Glacius_!" he shouted. A light blue beam shot from his wand. In a second, the target was encased in a layer of ice and a goofy yet triumphant smile appeared on his face.

Due to a lack of targets and no way to get more on short notice, Professor Torrindale had assigned each of the students into eighteen groups of two to practice the Freezing Charm. Courtney was partnered with Desmond. A few targets down, Elijah was working with Flo.

Des stepped aside so Courtney could have her turn. She looked at the target. " _Glacius!_ "

The practice was going relatively smoothly. The only issue anyone had with this spell was ten minutes prior when Henry had stressed the second syllable rather than the first, temporarily making his target flash bright colours. By this point, however, Professor Torrindale had fixed it and every student was having consistent success with the charm.

"What I wanna know is, you know how ice is kinda really cold water?" Des said to Courtney. "So does the spell just make ice, like a colder _Aguamenti_ , or does it make coldness and the ice is just a side-effect?"

"I think it just makes the ice," Courtney replied. "Then again, I know the air has water in it, so… I guess it could go either way."

He smiled. "I'm going to find out."

He spent the remainder of the class smiling, but he never actually shared his plan for figuring out the Freezing Charm.

When class ended, the students left. Courtney saw Albus approaching quickly.

"Courtney," he said in a loud whisper. "We need you at the Room of Requirement immediately."

"But I have Transfiguration really soon-"

"James said he'd take care of it. Or that he _took_ care of it, if you know what I mean. Trust me, it's urgent. Something's seriously wrong."


	11. Chapter 11: Cartesius, Pythagoras, and B

Chapter Eleven

Cartesius, Pythagoras, and Bacon

Albus and Courtney went up a flight of stairs, then went back down the same stairs to a completely different part of the castle. After a time, they reached the Room of Requirement, where James and Natalya stood. Shortly afterward, Rose and Lynne also approached, from the opposite direction.

"Alright, guys, something's seriously up with the Room," James told them. "I was in there - don't ask why - and when I tried to leave, the Room started screaming at me. I'm not making this up. A bunch of words appeared in front of me, just floating in the air, and they said to bring, and I quote, 'A S Potter and his friends'. And then, in even bigger letters, 'Not the son of Draco'."

"Why not?" Rose asked.

"You think I know? Point is, the door was locked. The Room would _not let me leave_ until I promised I'd bring you guys here. I don't think that's ever happened before, and later I'm going to get Hedwidgeon so I can ask Teddy and the others if they've ever heard of this happening before. In the meantime, you guys, I dunno, find out what the Room of Requirement wants so badly. If any of you have classes to get to, I'll make sure you're early later."

Lynne nodded and approached the wall. "Room, we need to know what's wrong and what we can do to help."

The door appeared with a thunderclap sound, already slamming itself open. Inside, the Room of Requirement was not nearly as bright as they were used to. A dark cloud hung over all of them, accompanied by fast winds. The Pensieve sat in the middle and a familiar portrait was on the wall.

"Children," said the portrait of Cartesius. "It's not often I come here twice in a single decade. What is happening?"

"We don't know," Natalya said. "We came here to find out. Something's wrong with the Room of Requirement."

"I see," Cartesius muttered. "Why, t'is positively poetic, wouldn't you say? After centuries of helping students with their troubles, the Room of Requirement now asks the students for help of its own."

"We were just in here yesterday," Rose told him. "It wasn't nearly this bad."

"Guys," Albus said. "Cartesius isn't the only one the Room wants us to see." He gestured to the Pensieve.

"He's right," Courtney replied. She looked at Cartesius. "We won't be long."

With that, Albus plunged into the Pensieve, and the others followed.

* * *

The sight of those faces, covered completely in bandages, still disturbed Courtney.

"We found one of them," one of the bandaged people said. "The annoying type. I doubt anyone will notice."

"Fool!" was the response. "Of course they'll notice! They notice everything! The one you found… what _exactly_ did you do wi-"

"In the Center," the first one said. "Mercury's already gone and put him under."

"Great. Just great! Now there's no way we can get him back without them noticing us either! Now, we have to send Aleksander. To. Freaking. _Hogwarts_."

"Do we know an Aleksander?" Rose asked. A few head-shakes, but no spoken answers.

"I'll ask Lily later," Albus said. "There might be an Aleksander in first year."

"I doubt Hogwarts will be that bad for him…"

"It's practically enemy territory! If even _one_ of those… things… figures out about him, then _he's_ done for, the _Light_ 's done for, and _humanity_ is done for."

"The Light," Natalya breathed.

"So it is real," Lynne said. "And it knows about Hogwarts. And… this Aleksander… One of the Light is _in our school now_."

"People who hate wizardkind on principle, in Hogwarts," Courtney mumbled. "This… is Slytherin all over again. Only _worse_. The other Founders knew but didn't do anything… Vector and the others don't even _know_ about this."

"Once we leave, we _have_ to tell Vector as soon as possible," Albus said.

"And I have to let Elijah know," Courtney said.

"Right. That still raises the question… Why doesn't the Room of Requirement want Scorpius to know?" Rose questioned.

Before anyone could offer an explanation, the scene shifted again. Albus's dad was standing in Professor Vector's office along with Vector, Professor Asmius, and a student Courtney didn't recognize.

"Is that Samuel?" Lynne wondered.

"How did you know?" the boy asked.

"Well, when Courtney talked to me after class to let me know Voldemort was back, she actually called him Voldemort," Potter said. "Never once called him 'You-Know-Who' like you did. When people start acting out of character, Polyjuice and Imperius are the go-to answers. And in this case, it looks like it was both. Not the real Courtney, and not the real Samuel either."

"Wait, Courtney as in you, Courtney?" Rose asked.

"This was from last year, it has to be," Courtney said.

"Did you expect the Head of the Auror Department to not recognize when Dark magic is being used?" Asmius asked.

"You know, Asmius is really starting to grow on me," Albus said.

There was a knock on Vector's door. James walked in and spoke to the people in the room. "There's something you should know."

The scene shifted again. The siblings that Courtney, Lynne, and Albus had seen earlier in the year were now there again. Older, but still recognizably the same children.

"Hey, give that back!" the brother shouted. _No different from the first time_ , Courtney thought. They're _still_ fighting over stuff?

"I will when I'm done." The sister revealed what she was holding - a _wand_. " _Wingardium Leviosa!_ "

Rather than causing anything to float, a spark burst a short distance from the wand, leaving dark grey smoke coming from the tip.

"See? I can do magic, too!"

"You can't get magic to do what you want!" the brother exclaimed. "You can _do_ magic, but you can't _use_ it!"

"Well, why not? Just because I'm a Muggle? You're not _better_ than me!"

"Yes, I am!"

"No, you're not!"

The brother snatched the wand from his sister's hand and started turning it wildly. " _Glacius! Wingardium Leviosa! Accio! Aresto Momentum!_ " Ice crystals formed in the air and floated for a time. A rainbow appeared on them as they fell in slow motion. It was an undeniably beautiful use of magic.

"The Freezing Charm is a third-year spell," Natalya said. "This guy's _at least_ thirteen and he's being this much of a brat?"

"Maybe back then they taught the Freezing Charm earlier?" Courtney suggested. "Or maybe he's not a Hogwarts student."

"This is real magic," the brother continued. "Not just taking a wand and letting it do whatever. And this kind of magic is something only a wizard can do!"

"Well, it shouldn't be!" the sister countered. "Whatever magic powers you've got inside you… There's no reason why everyone can't have them!"

"What?" Albus exclaimed.

The scene shifted again. Now they stood, once again watching the people with bandages over their heads. "We've finished with the RLG," one said. "The full name… is _Beauxbatons_. It's located in the Pyrenees."

"Excellent work," another said. "Our first trip will be this Saturday. We'll need at least one volunteer to go to Hogsmeade and at least one to go to Beauxbatons."

Two hands entered the air. "Alright," the second person said. "Pythagoras and Bacon are the first volunteers. If anyone else would like to go, tell me later. Dismissed."

* * *

They shot out of the Pensieve and back into the darkened Room of Requirement. James and Cartesius looked at them.

"So?" James asked. "What happened?"


	12. Chapter 12: OOC Is Serious Business

Chapter Twelve

OOC Is Serious Business

"Those people from before… They're sending some of their guys to Hogsmeade," Lynne said. "Or… no, they already sent them. They took someone. And they sent another guy - Aleksander - to make sure nobody would notice."

"They took someone?" Cartesius exclaimed. "Why, that's a challenge. How do you suppose they managed it?"

"I don't know." Lynne sank to the ground and rubbed her temple.

"We also saw a vision of last year," Courtney added. "Your dad was talking to a student who was Imperiused and using Polyjuice. Said that Aurors are trained to notice when people are acting out of character."

"Last year's crisis was solved last year," Rose waved. "So the only reason why the Room would show us that memory…"

"... would be to tell us to look for someone acting out of character," Natalya finished. "Because that someone would be either Imperiused or Polyjuice…"

"They took someone and had Aleksander use Polyjuice to disguise himself as whoever they took," Albus concluded. "So whoever the Room is warning us about… whoever's acting out of character… that's really Aleksander."

"Well, there is one person the Room was definitely warning us about," James said. "'The son of Draco'. The Room said, in no uncertain terms, that Scorpius shouldn't come see this."

"So, has this Scorpius, son of Draco, been acting out of character?" Cartesius asked.

Rose paled. "He's been really cheerful - way more cheerful than he was - since we got back from Hogsmeade."

"That's kind of a good thing, though," James said. "We need something a little more solid than that."

Courtney remembered something. "After the Quidditch game, he called me Courtney. Usually he just calls me Glass."

"Er…" James waved his hand in front of his chest, gesturing his lack of convincing.

"When we were scheduling the Muggle Studies lessons I offered Every-Flavoured Beans," Lynne said. "He said he didn't want any."

"Okay, that's… not like him," James said. "That's not like _any_ of you. Okay, now I'm thoroughly convinced. I have to go get something from the Gryffindor common room. So I'll get you guys to class and then get back to you afterwards."

He stuck one hand down the front of his robe and revealed the golden hourglass. The Time-Turner.

"We haven't been here very long, so one hour ought to do it." He held out the Time-Turner and waited for Courtney, Lynne, Albus, Rose, and Natalya to join him in the Turner's small sphere of power.

Once they were all under, James turned the hourglass once. "Alright. You guys get to class. I'll see you then."

They left the Room of Requirement. Courtney went to Professor Asmius's class.

* * *

"An Animagus is a rare form of Transfiguration," Professor Asmius said. "Particularly difficult, even compared to what is typical for this class. Becoming an Animagus is a long, arduous process that is illegal without registering with the Ministry. That said, once a wizard has successfully become an Animagus, the transfiguration can be done at any time, even without a wand. This is what makes the Animagus so practical.

"There are few uses for Animagus transfiguration. It can be used to disguise or conceal oneself, but Disillusionment Charms are far more useful for such a thing. Having an animal form may allow someone to run faster, or fly, or fit into small spaces, but for that we have Apparition, brooms, and Shrinking Charms, each of which is also more convenient and useful than becoming an Animagus. It was recently discovered that Dementors ignore nonhuman physiology, but these days most wizards are taught the Patronus Charm early, as you all were.

"However, with the exception of Apparition and brooms, all of those things require wands. Should a normal wizard ever be disarmed, they would be unable to perform any of those actions. And outside of a Quidditch pitch, I think it's safe to say that if you're not holding a wand then you're not holding a broom. There are wards against Apparition, and those are frequently applied, including here at Hogwarts. But an Animagus can transform anywhere, at any time, without needing any magical items to pull it off.

"Right now, there are only nineteen Animagi registered in Great Britain. Because of the difficulties, lengths, and legal ramifications of this ability, we will only be studying the theory of Animagi, rather than actually becoming them. Of course, if any of you decide to become Animagi, I wholly recommend it, so long as you do so legally and do not let it interfere with your schoolwork. Now, who here can tell me the difference between an Animagus transformation and a standard animal Transfiguration?"

There was a pause. Imogen eventually raised her hand. "Other than the wand thing, an Animagus still thinks like a person."

"Precisely." Asmius beamed. "Animagi still retain their human thoughts and emotions even while in animal form. That is why Animagi are capable of transforming and then transforming back. By contrast, a human Transfigured into an animal will think as though they truly are that animal. They cannot change back into a human unless another wizard reverses the spell. Now, if you will please open your textbooks to page 105, we will go over the process of becoming an Animagus…"

* * *

When class ended, the rest of the class went to the Hufflepuff common room. Courtney went in a different direction, toward the Gryffindor common room.

James stood at the entrance, waiting. Courtney saw Albus walking toward James from the other direction. James looked at his brother. "Great, you're here. So, in order to help you find out exactly what guy-who-isn't-Scorpius is up to, I've decided to give you one of my tools of the trade."

"You're giving me the Cloak?" Albus asked excitedly.

"What? No. I'm keeping the Cloak. I like it too much to give it away just yet. No, this has been one of my most useful possessions. Without it, I would never have been able to pull off half the stuff I've done over the past few years, even with the Time-Turner and the Cloak. Now, it's yours." He handed something to Albus, but Courtney couldn't see what it was.

"It's… blank," Albus said.

"To activate it, just tap it with your wand and say 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good'."


	13. Chapter 13: Apollion

Chapter Thirteen

Apollion

Author's Note: Two of the things I've been waiting for: The first is the end of the previous chapter, where James reveals that he owns the Marauder's Map and gives it to Albus. I have been waiting to write that exact scene since I started _Castle_. Man, that was fun to write. Secondly, Courtney Glass finally has its own page on TV Tropes! It's not a perfect page yet, but I'm still excited that someone saw fit to create it. Feel free to visit it and edit it. Make Courtney Glass known!

* * *

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Courtney, Lynne, Rose, Elijah, and Natalya watched as words appeared on the parchment in Albus's hand.

 _Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs_

 _Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers_

 _are proud to present_

 _THE MARAUDER'S MAP_

"It's a map of Hogwarts," Albus said. "It doesn't have the Room of Requirement or the Chamber of Secrets, but it does have a whole bunch of secret passageways." He pointed to the inside of the map, where a tunnel led from the Whomping Willow. "And, more importantly, look closely at all those little dots moving around."

In every section of the map, there were small black dots. Each dot was accompanied by a pair of footprints that moved along as well as a name. Courtney looked for a little while at the corridor where the names _Courtney Glass_ , _Albus Potter_ , _Lynne Ibrams_ , _Rose Weasley_ , _Elijah Garvin_ , and _Natalya Flint_ all stood motionless.

"Absolutely everyone in the school is on here," Albus continued. "Even portraits. That's how James found where Voldemort was last year."

"We can use this to see what Scorpius is up to," Lynne said. "We just need to find his name on here."

"I've already tried looking. A couple times, actually. If Scorpius is really Polyjuiced, then the Map would show his real name. So we just have to find him in the castle, then look at where he should be in the Map. The name that shows up is the name of the guy pretending to be Scorpius."

"We have History of Magic in an hour," Natalya said. "You could keep an eye on the Map then, write down all the names that are in the classroom. The one that isn't a third-year Slytherin is the one we're looking for."

"I guess you know the names of all the Slytherin third-years?" Courtney asked. When Natalya nodded, Courtney continued. "Great. So Albus will look at the class and write the names. You'll go through them to see which name doesn't belong."

"And of course, we'll help out with anything else you guys need," Rose finished. "Right?"

"Right," Courtney said.

"Right," Lynne agreed.

"Huh," Elijah said, pointing to the Map. "Professor Torrindale's first name is 'Bathsheba'. Did not expect that. Er, I mean, right."

"Alright," Albus finished. "Natalya, meet me at the Room of Requirement after class. I'll have the list. Mischief managed."

* * *

Professor Lochram walked to the front of the class. Normally, the dramatic Defense Professor kept the students completely focused on his lectures and tales. Today, however, Courtney was only half-paying attention, the rest of her mind anticipating Albus and Natalya's findings. Beside her, one of Elijah's legs was bouncing.

"Today, we will be going over simple spark spells!" Lochram announced. He set his wand down on a desk. " _Verdimillious_ , _Periculum_ , and _Hyacinthus_. Green sparks, red sparks, and blue sparks."

Lochram picked up his wand again. " _Accio target_." A silver orb floated from the back of the room, stopping when it got close to Lochram. " _Verdimillious!_ " With a forward slash, bright green sparks shot from the end of the wand and struck the orb. "The Verdimillious Charm does a fair bit of damage, enough to be useful in duelling. But the spell has even more uses. I would recommend you all duck." He waved his wand in a circular motion above his head. " _Ver-di-mil-li-ous…_ " he muttered slowly. As his wand twirled in a circle, green light emerged from the tip, drawing a green circle in the air. When Lochram finished the last syllable, a green ball of light shot from the circle and struck the ceiling before exploding.

The room was still bright green for a few seconds before the light faded. "The green light could have stayed here longer, had I wished it," Lochram said. "Anything that is hidden with Dark magic will become visible and clear under the light of the Verdimillious Charm. There are other forms of the spell, but those are for fourth year, I'm afraid. Up next…"

Courtney wondered if the Verdimillious Charm would expose Scorpius's true form. Did Polyjuice count as Dark magic under the charm's rules?

Lochram pointed his wand into the air again. "This is for educational purposes only! _Periculum!_ " A bright red firework shot into the sky. "This spell does not take much effort, but it can be seen for miles! That is why _Periculum_ is the standard spell for emergencies. Know that, if ever you are in danger, you can cast the red sparks to the heavens and those around you will know that you need assistance."

Amber raised her hand. "Is that why you said it was just for educational purposes?"

"Indeed! For I had to make it known that I was not truly in any peril. I would not want another to see the light and come to rescue one who needs no rescuing! The last of the simple spark spells… _Hyacinthus_!" A blue spark came out from Lochram's wand, stopping a fraction of inch before hitting the ceiling.

"The blue sparks spell is the only simple spark spell such that the caster can control its height and speed while it is firing," Lochram explained. "It is also the only one of the three to have substance, rather than just energy. Not very much, but if you had several wizards in a room all firing the spell at once, then the change in the air would be noticeable.

"These are the three simple spark spells. Revelation. Emergency. Substance. You and your fellows would do well to know what each color means for one another. It may very well save your lives."

* * *

Lynne, Rose, and Natalya were already at the entrance to the Room of Requirement when Courtney arrived.

"Has Albus already left?" Courtney asked.

"He hasn't shown up yet," Rose replied.

"Hey!" Albus called out, running up to the group. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long. I've got the list, and I think I know which one we're looking for."

He reached into his robe and revealed a crumpled piece of parchment. On it was a list of names.

"Natalya Flint," Lynne read aloud. "Gareth Adrius. Arturo Parkinson. Lisanna Nott. Desdemona Rookwood. Ebony Way. Jay Li. Aleksander Apollion…"

"There," Natalya said. "There's no Aleksander Apollion in third-year Slytherin."

"Thought so," Albus said. "Aleksander. The name of the guy who those people were sending to Hogwarts."

"Where is he now?" Rose asked.

Albus took the Marauder's Map from his pouch. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he recited. He opened the map as the ink appeared. "Wow, there's a lot of people. How does anyone look for someone with this?"

"How much time did James have to get used to it?" Courtney asked.

"Let's each look at-" Natalya started. She was interrupted by Elijah's sudden arrival.

"Hey, did I miss anything?" he asked, breathing heavily.

"Aleksander Apollion," Lynne summarized. "That's the guy playing Scorpius. We're looking for him on the Map."

"Found him," Rose said in a surprised tone. She pointed to the Map. Aleksander Apollion was standing right beside the Room of Requirement. His name was right next to each of their names.

Aleksander's dot suddenly started moving very quickly away from the rest of theirs.


	14. Chapter 14: When The Panic Began

Chapter Fourteen

When The Panic Began

"I don't know about you, but I'm following this dot," Elijah said.

He started running in the same direction as Aleksander. Without the slightest hesitation, Courtney followed him. She noticed Lynne, Albus, Rose, and Natalya running with them.

"He just turned left," Albus called out. "He's headed downstairs."

The group got to the staircase that Aleksander was on and started to descend.

"We're not catching up," Albus warned. "He's getting farther."

"Somehow I doubt that," Rose said. She put one foot on the handrail and pushed herself upward. "Someone, catch me." Rose jumped off the staircase and started falling straight to the first floor.

" _Arresto Momentum!_ " Natalya shouted, pointing her wand at Rose.

Rose landed safely on the ground and ran to the first stair in the staircase.

"He's almost there!" Albus said. "Rose, you've got this!"

Rose suddenly fell backwards, but she kept her arms in front of her, holding the air tightly. "He's got a Disillusionment Charm or an Invisibility Potion or something!" she exclaimed.

Elijah caught up with Rose and helped grab Aleksander. "So, you going to talk or what?"

"There's no way out," Lynne said. "You're officially surrounded."

"Tell us who you are and what the Light is doing with our friend," Rose finished.

"Rose," the air said in Scorpius's voice. "I'm not your enemy. The Light is not your enemy. Trust me. The real villains here are Septima Vector and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Not Lochram and Weasley, though. I suspect they're just pawns being manipulated."

"The Headmistress and the Minister of Magic?" Courtney asked. "If they're the villains, what are they doing?" You couldn't be a villain without doing something villainous.

"Yes, what exactly are we doing?" Courtney looked up to see Professor Vector walking calmly to the group. "That is, if you don't mind my asking."

"Professor Vector," Aleksander said. "What are you…?"

"Mr. Corner told me it was important that I come here," Vector explained. "In particular, he shared with me your suspicion of Mr. Malfoy. I take it he's the invisible one?"

"Yeah," Rose confirmed.

"He's not Scorpius," Natalya said. "His real name is Aleksander Apollion. He's been using Polyjuice to fool all of us."

"But Hogwarts Castle is stronger than any potion," Vector said. "It took Mr. Malfoy's friends a degree of effort to notice he was not truly here, but the Room saw through your disguise with ease. Am I correct?"

"You know we've been using the Room?" Elijah realized.

"No, but I suspected it. In Hogwarts, all troublemakers find the Room of Requirement at some point. As you are all in your third year, I figured that by now you would likely have found it, even if Mr. Potter never showed it to you."

When Vector said "Mr. Potter", Courtney knew she was talking about James. But even with the Cloak, the Time-Turner, and the Map, James hadn't found the Room until his second year.

"Now," Vector began. She looked at the empty space in the air and drew her wand. "Mr. Apollion, was it? Professors Lochram, Cassius, and I will be questioning you in my office shortly. My apologies, but this is necessary to ensure you comply. _Petrificus Totalus_."

Elijah and Lynne helped lift Aleksander off of Rose. Vector wrapped an arm around his invisible form and started walking away. "Thank you for your assistance in this matter," she told the group.

"You guys are going to regret this," Aleksander called. "Vector's going to _destroy Hogwarts_ at this rate!"

* * *

Breakfast in the Great Hall was usually enjoyable. There was always either something going on that Courtney and her friends needed to talk about, or nothing going on, so that they could eat calmly without having to worry. Today, though, they knew the Light was still out there, they knew that after two days Vector still was having difficulty getting information from Aleksander, and they knew that there was an empty seat at the Slytherin table. There were no leads, there was nothing they could do about the issue other than wait for Vector to learn something from the man the Light sent.

Courtney did not expect that to change, which was why the owls were surprising.

Owls came to the Great Hall every morning, delivering letters to students all the time. But this time there were hundreds of owls all flying through the windows at the same time. Each of them dropped a red envelope before flying back out without stopping. The entire process took about a minute.

"Dang, who got so many Howlers?" a Ravenclaw child asked.

On cue, each of the hundreds of red letters floated into the air. Their shapes altered, becoming hundreds of red paper mouths moving in unison. When they spoke in perfect harmony, it was the loudest voice that Courtney had ever heard.

" _ **WE ARE THE FACTION OF LIGHT! FOR TOO LONG MAGIC HAS BEEN KEPT FROM THE MUGGLE POPULATION! WE HAVE TRIED TO BE REASONABLE! YOU HAVE NOT ALLOWED THIS! YOU HAVE TAKEN OUR MAN HOSTAGE, AND YOU HAVE LEFT US WITH NO CHOICE! HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY HAS STOOD FOR OVER A MILLENNIUM! IT WILL NOT STAND FOR LONG, NOT AFTER HAVING INCURRED THE WRATH OF THE LIGHT! WE ARE COMING! AND WE WILL BRING ABOUT THE END OF YOUR ERA!**_ "

The Howlers exploded in a giant flame, leaving nothing but ash.

And that was when the panic began.

* * *

Author's Note: Howlers becoming mouths when activated may be something exclusive to the films, but it's such a nice touch that I had to go with it.


	15. Chapter 15: Location of the Light

Chapter Fifteen

Location of the Light

"'For too long, magic has been kept from the Muggle population,'" Natalya said. "Does this mean the Faction of Light really _is_ related to the Light Magic Movement?"

"The Light Magic Movement wants to repeal the Statute of Secrecy," Elijah reminded. "They need the Ministry's approval for that, and declaring war on Hogwarts is hardly going to give them that."

"It's still not the same as what we thought, though," Albus said. "The idea was that the Light was people like Holtz - Muggles who wanted to kill all wizards 'for Muggle reasons'. Now, apparently, they can send Howlers and their goal is… what, exactly?"

"Their goal _was_ to stop magic from being restricted to wizards, apparently," Lynne muttered. "Now, though… they want to destroy Hogwarts because we have Aleksander."

"What if we freed him?" Courtney asked. "Surely Vector would agree with losing a lead in order to protect the school."

"I'll ask her," Brent offered. "Just in case it doesn't work, though, you guys come up with a backup plan." Brent started walking away.

"Here's a good backup plan," Rose said. "We find where the Faction of Light is hiding. We get Scorpius out of there. We get them to leave our school alone."

"The you-know-what only works for Hogwarts," James pointed out, gesturing to Albus. "How are we going to find the Light when they're on the outside?"

* * *

Headmistress Septima Vector rubbed her forehead in exhaustion. What was Aleksander's secret? She had tried everything: bribery, deals, even getting the Ministry's approval to give him Veritaserum. Nothing had worked, and Aleksander had said nothing about the group he worked for.

Now, that group has threatened Hogwarts and it was more important than ever that they get answers from him. But he _still wouldn't talk_.

The only upside was that his Polyjuice had worn off, revealing him to be a man in his early twenties whom Vector had never seen before.

There was a knock on her door. "Come in," she muttered.

Brent Corner entered her office with a wave. Brent had recently become a fascinating student. A standard joker for his first two years, Vector had almost immediately written him off as forgettable. Then, earlier this very year, it had turned out that Brent possessed one of the rarest traits a wizard could have: a fondness for Arithmancy. And he was surprisingly _good_ at it, as well. Vector had honestly thought it was a joke when Professor Edgecombe had claimed Brent was currently the top of the class.

But despite his passion and talent for Arithmancy, he had still kept up his troublesome, "comical" personality and had more recently befriended James Potter - which was hardly a good sign. At this point, Vector had no idea what to think of the boy.

"Yes, Mr. Corner?" Vector asked.

"Professor, did you hear about the Howlers from the Light that just showed up?"

In response, Vector simply folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow.

"Right, of course you heard. Those things were loud enough, people in Africa probably heard. Anyway, it came up that the Light's going to attack Hogwarts because we have Aleksander. So what if we somehow arranged to _not_ have him. Get in touch with the Light and offer to trade him for Scorpius?"

"It's a good idea, Mr. Corner, but not one that I have not thought of already," Vector said. "I even told Aleksander of the idea. Unfortunately, he still refuses to give any information on the Light, including how to contact them. We have no location, no names of any members. Nothing for the Floo Network, nothing to give owls. To save both our missing student and our school, I would love nothing more than to offer a hostage exchange. I just wish we were able to do so."

"So that's the big thing we need? A way to find the Light's location?"

"Precisely."

* * *

"We need to know where the Light is," Rose said.

The door to the Room of Requirement appeared. Courtney noticed that its appearance was far faster this time than any previous occasion. The group hurried inside the Room.

The Room was a pristine off-white colour, with a single doorway on the other end. Suddenly, the doorway started moving closer to them. It opened itself up and zoomed past them. To Courtney, it appeared as though they were all now standing outside in early dusk. The Room turned around so they were now facing the doorway again. A few words were written above the door: _Fazione di Luce_.

"Faction of Light," Natalya translated. "It's Italian."

In an instant, they were all floating off the ground. Or rather, they were still in place while the ground descended. As the distance between them and the ground increased, they could see many other buildings with similar styles. When they stopped moving, they had an enormous aerial view. Two words appeared in shimmering letters above the city.

 _Roma, Italia_.

"The Light's in Rome," Lynne summarized. "We know the city. We know the building… It's called _Fazione di Luce_. We've got everything we need to track them down."

"Now comes a bigger problem," James said. "None of us can Apparate. What do we actually do now that we know where they are?"

"We tell Vector what we know," Elijah responded. "She can take care of this from here."

* * *

"Now, can you please spell _Fazione di Luce_?" Vector asked.

Lynne recited the letters, and Vector nodded. "Thank you. You all have no idea how helpful this information is." She looked around her office and took a parchment and quill. "Can you all go find Professor Lochram? Tell him that I need him in my office with Raisel."

After agreeing, Courtney and the others left Vector's office. "Let's speed this up a little," Albus said. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

"There," Courtney said. "Professor Lochram's in the front, almost at the Great Hall."

"Well, let's go. Mischief managed."

* * *

Lochram grinned. "So the Headmistress knows where those crooks are and she wants my and Raisel's aid? Excellent!"

"Why? What's Raisel?" Lynne asked. "And what does it mean that she wants your help?"

"Raisel is a majestic owl," Lochram explained. "That of Vector's, no less. And what it means… is that she and I will be taking the Faction of Light head-on."


	16. Chapter 16: Fazione di Luce

Chapter Sixteen

Fazione di Luce

"Oh, hey, there's something about the Howlers we got," Rose said. She showed the others the relevant page of the _Daily Prophet._ The top of the page read " **LIGHT DECLARES WAR ON HOGWARTS** ".

 _Thursday morning, anti-wizard Muggle supporters calling themselves the Light Faction sent a large number of owls to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The owls carried a threat to the school, claiming that the Light Faction would be coming to destroy it. The threat was made in response to a Light Faction spy, Aleksander Apollion, being caught infiltrating the school and detained for questioning._

 _Professor Julianne Karanna, a school authority who was present for the threat, has agreed to voice her thoughts on the matter. Says Karanna, "The Howlers [that carried the threat] were going on about how magic has been kept from Muggles. It's clear they think Muggles can handle knowing of our existence, and it is this ignorance that has driven them to attack. This is the sign we needed that magic and Muggles really do need to be kept separate, if only to prevent more situations like this one."_

 _Hogwarts Headmistress Septima Vector and Deputy Headmaster Vander Lochram have yesterday announced their intention to search for the Light Faction in order to end the threat. For the duration of their absence, Hogwarts has been left in the temporary charge of Professors Bathsheba Torrindale, Neville Longbottom, and Estella Asmius. Additionally, Minister Shacklebolt has tasked seven Aurors with providing additional protection of the school until the crisis is resolved. Due to the circumstances regarding the threat, political activist Jossalin Bentham has been officially named a criminal until further information can be gained. Information leading to her or to other associates of the Light Faction will be rewarded._

"Except we know that's not true," Elijah said. "Bentham's got nothing to do with the Light Faction."

"Who's Jossalin Bentham?" Courtney asked.

"Like the article says, she's a political activist," Elijah explained. "She's the closest thing the Light Magic Movement has to a leader. But even if they have the same goal, we already know the LMM and the Faction of Light are not related."

"And of course Karanna's the one who said all that stuff," Albus added. "That's how we know for sure that it's all rubbish."

"Anyone else getting… I don't know, irritated that we're here?" Rose questioned. "I can't be the only one thinking that we should be going to Rome, taking on the Light, helping Vector, doing _something_ other than staying here."

"Yeah, I guess I know what you mean," Lynne said. "We were the first to notice the threat, we found Aleksander, we found out where the Light was… It really does feel like this ought to be something we finish."

* * *

The earliest magic owls were first enchanted in the days before the Founders were born. Since then, all of those owls' descendants carried the same charm that allowed them to track anyone who wasn't magically hidden, though the majority of magical owls were freshly enchanted in the centuries since.

Before leaving, Septima Vector had written a letter to the Faction of Light, letting them know of her offer to trade Apollion for Malfoy and have a complete ceasefire between Hogwarts and the Light. She had addressed the letter to " _Fazione di Luce_ " and handed it to Raisel. The owl had immediately known where the _Fazione di Luce_ building was, and he began flying straight toward it.

Vector, of course, had been flying right behind Raisel, following him on Lochram's old broomstick. Not the best model or the newest, but it was one that Vander had years of experience flying, fast enough to keep up with an owl, sturdy enough for Vector to place a Disillusionment Charm on it.

Lochram had to shuffle his weight often. His broom was only built with the expectation of holding one person at a time, rather than three. It only took a minute for him to think of a method of reducing the issue.

He had Transfigured Apollion into a Puffskein and had Vector hold onto the beast.

"Rome," Lochram said wistfully when they finally entered the city. "A marvelous city with an even grander history! I remember one time at the Coliseum… Well, that tale is only good if you can see the marks… Septima, please do let me know if you see the Coliseum."

"I am focused on Raisel right now," Vector said. "Perhaps I can listen to your story after this situation is behind us… Unless it's the one with the runespoor that got Imperiused. I've already heard that one."

"Very well. It would appear Raisel is beginning his descent! We reach our foes shortly!"

Lochram lowered the broomstick to match the owl. After a few moments, they could see the building as the students had described. Inscribed in the front were the words _Fazione di Luce_.

Raisel flew into the closed door several times, as though knocking. When the door finally opened, a person wearing a thick sweater, sunglasses, and a face wrapped in bandages could be seen.

"An owl?" the person said. The person took the letter from Raisel's beak, opened it, and started to read the message Vector had written. "Euclid! There's a message from Hogwarts here!"

"Euclid?" Lochram asked.

"A Muggle mathematician," Vector whispered. "Classical mathematics were based on his work. According to the students, there were other Light members named Pythagoras and Bacon. From this, I assume these are code names, and that the Light fancies themselves mathematicians. If that is the case, obviously we have the advantage." No Muggle mathematician could possibly be on par with a scholar of Arithmancy.

Another figure, clad in the same unusual clothing as the first, approached the doorway. Euclid, Vector assumed. Euclid wordlessly took the letter and read it over. "I see," Euclid finally said. "So they want to offer a trade. Well, I suppose we should send a letter back to…" Euclid suddenly stopped midsentence and pointed a finger straight at Vector and Lochram.

Vector found herself unable to move. She couldn't reach her wand. _Have to Apparate_. How did… Why couldn't she Apparate? What did Euclid do to her? Beside her, Lochram appeared to have the same difficulty with moving. _They knew we were here_ , she realized. _Even though we had Disillusionment Charms. That's just not possible for Muggles…_

 _That's not possible._

 _That's not possible._

Those were her last thoughts before she fell unconscious.


	17. Chapter 17: Shack Assembly

Chapter Seventeen

Shack Assembly

Courtney looked up at the board, then started pouring more dragonfly thoraxes into her cauldron.

Professor Cassius had started teaching the Girding Potion, a consumable concoction that aided with endurance. At this point, Courtney was trying to make the blue substance turn silver, at which point she would heat the cauldron until the potion was red. Paying attention to the colors was one of the most important parts of the potion, according to Cassius.

Just as the faint hint of silver appeared in Courtney's potion, an owl flew in through the open window, carrying a red letter. Another Howler.

The owl flew away as the Howler opened. " _PEOPLE OF HOGWARTS! WE HAVE CAPTURED YOUR HEADMISTRESS AND DEPUTY HEADMASTER IN THEIR ATTEMPT TO TRICK US! OUR PEOPLE KNOW WHERE YOUR AUROR GUARDS ARE! WE KNOW HOW TO EVADE THEM! IT WAS A GOOD EFFORT, BUT A FUTILE ONE!_ "

The Howler burst into flames, and then panic started again.

* * *

"The Light sent another Howler to Torrindale's class," Lynne said.

"We got one at Cassius's too," Elijah added.

"Same with Longbottom," Rose said. "I could ask Hugo if a Howler showed up to Flying, but somehow I think I already know."

"There was one in Transfiguration, too," Natalya confirmed. "They sent a letter to every classroom in the castle so everyone would know. Do any of you believe them, though? About them having Vector and Lochram, and being able to get past the Aurors guarding Hogwarts?"

"There's no way they can get past the Aurors," Albus said instantly. One of the seven Aurors tasked with guarding Hogwarts, Courtney remembered, was Albus's father. "So, yeah, they're probably lying about capturing Vector and Lochram."

"Should we really take that risk?" Rose asked. " _If_ they're telling the truth, all of us are in danger. Even if they're lying, there's still going to be even more panic."

"Hey," James said as he walked to the group. "Take it you guys got a Howler in class too?"

"Yeah," Brent replied. "We're already two steps ahead of you."

"Really? Well, then, I guess you already know there's been a change of plans." He grinned. When nobody else spoke, he continued. "We're taking on the Light, starting tonight."

"By 'taking on', you mean…?" Lynne questioned.

"Tonight, I'm flying over to Rome to get to the _Fazione di Luce_. A bunch of others - Wes, Gwen, Ursula, Genale, Reiner, I even sent a letter to Teddy and Fred - are coming with me. Seeing how there's strength in numbers, you guys are welcome to come along. We're going to rescue our teachers. And our Slytherin. So, yeah. If you guys want to come with us, grab anyone else you think should come too and meet us at the Shack tonight."

James turned around and started to walk away. The others were left with shocked expressions, and, in Rose's case, an enormous grin.

* * *

"Absolutely not," Genale said.

"Come on, there's strength in numbers," James countered. "For all you know, they could be necessary."

"Your brother and his friends, fine," a seventh-year Slytherin named Reiner said. "They're third-years and most of them have already seen Aleksander and You-Know-Who. But this is _way_ too dangerous for us to be taking _first-years_."

The first-years in question - Lily, Hugo, Lysander, Lorcan, Rae Anne, and Martín - stood in the back of the Shack, watching the older students argue about their presence.

"I'm sorry, but you guys are going to have to go back to your dorms," Genale told them. She looked at James again. "We're not taking these children, and that's final."

James sighed. "Understood." He led the first-years away. Courtney thought she saw a faint shimmer from James's sleeve as they left.

"Now that that's settled," Genale said. She looked at the array of third-year students. Albus, Lynne, Rose, Natalya, Courtney, Elijah, Dekka, Brent, and Lisanna stood at attention among the Prefects and Quidditch players. "We're flying to the _Fazione di Luce_ , following Professor Vector's trail. A few graduates will be joining us along the way. Edward Lupin is one of them."

All of the older students who knew Teddy started to smile and clap at the idea. Genale smiled. "Alright, let's move."

* * *

Wes and Genale flew in the front. The other Quidditch players followed closely behind them. Courtney, Lynne, and Elijah - the ones with the least experience with brooms - shared brooms with Rose, Albus, and Lisanna, respectively.

The black sky was filled with countless white dots. As they flew over the countryside, the stars were the only things slightly illuminating the grass - and later, the ocean - below. Surprisingly, the night sky was completely void of clouds.

Courtney did not really care about the beauty in the sky. She was far too focused on the wind that blew past them while they flew a hundred meters in the air above Britain in the winter. Of her entire body, her nose felt particularly cold. She considered casting a heating spell, but refrained from it as the cold did not seem to bother anyone else.

 _You follow others always, and never lead._

Man, the Sorting Hat had gotten annoying.

Eventually, Courtney could hear Genale's voice. "Here we are. If everyone's prepared… we've reached the Faction of Light."

The building was identical to the one Courtney and her friends had seen in the Room of Requirement. The sole noticeable difference was the broomstick lying on the ground beside the building.

"That's Lochram's," Ursula said. "He and Vector were definitely here earlier. If we still haven't heard from them… The Light must have captured them."

Courtney swallowed. Scorpius was one thing, but _Vector_ and _Lochram_ were two of the most powerful wizards at Hogwarts. If the Light had overpowered even them… what chance did they have?

"Took you guys long enough," a voice said. A wizard faded into their presence, his Disillusionment Charm wearing off. Six other wizards showed up beside him shortly afterward.

"Teddy!" James called out. "Thought you were going to meet up with us in the air."

"We ended up deciding against it," a man who looked far too similar to James said. "Figured meeting you guys here would work better. See you've got some third years with you. Hey Rose. Hey Al."

"Hey Fred," Albus said. Rose repeated.

"So it would appear sat introductions are in order," a witch said. "You all know Teddy Lupin. I am Victoire Weasley and sis is my cousin Fred. Over here are Clara Finch-Fletchley, Boone Walker, Darrell Reilly, and Vesta Duweistan."

The younger students introduced themselves to the adult wizards. Once this was done, Genale clapped her hands once and looked at Reiner.

"Reiner, it's your plan," Genale said. "Where do we go from here?"

Reiner folded his hands together. "We enter in two groups," he finally said. "You, me, Wes, Gwen, Vesta, Darrell, Lisanna, Lynne, Brent, Courtney, and Natalya will go in first to test the waters. Clara, Boone, Ursula, Elijah, Dekka, and the Weasleys will go two minutes later. If any of us calls for help, help. If any of us sends green sparks, help. First fork in the path, my group goes left, the other group goes right. First sign of danger that none of us can help with, Apparate out of here _immediately_. These guys already managed to get the better of Vector and Lochram, so we can't take any unnecessary risks. No matter what, everyone keeps their wands concealed but ready at all times."

Courtney's fist clenched around her wand. This was really happening.

She looked at Lynne and shared a nod before turning to face the building.

They walked up to the _Fazione di Luce_ , and Reiner opened the door.


	18. Chapter 18: Ensnared

Chapter Eighteen

Ensnared

Courtney didn't know what she was expecting - probably a bunch of Light guards ready to attack. She actually felt _more_ suspicious by the guards' absence.

The room's interior was nothing like what the outside would suggest. While the _Fazione di Luce_ 's exterior looked like classical Italian or Roman architecture, the inside was a sleek, silver-colored product of the twenty-first century Muggle world. There were a few mirrors on the walls, a few doors surrounding the room, and a television screen playing a black-and-white picture in the ceiling of one corner.

" _Homenum Revelio_ ," Darrell said. When nothing happened, save for a very brief flicker on the television screen, he nodded. "This room's clear."

Reiner opened the first door on the left. Inside was pure blackness. Rather than looking for a light switch, Reiner held up his wand and flicked it twice. " _Lumos Maxima_."

The room on the other side of the door was significantly larger than the first room. When the group entered, they found themselves on top of one of several steel-mesh pathways suspended over a large concrete expanse. There were a few machines on the concrete floors, the purpose of which Courtney could not guess.

" _Homenum Revelio_ ," Darrell said again. Once again, nothing happened. Reiner started to lead the way across the path. As the others followed, the door behind them slammed shut and a set of iron bars dropped from the upper casing.

Gwen swore loudly. "It's a trap. We've got to go, _now_." She took the hand of the nearest third-year - Lynne - with her left hand. With her right hand, she raised her wand. Likewise, the rest of the older wizards held the other third-years' hands and raised their wands. Wes was the one holding Courtney's hand.

"Not just yet," Reiner advised. "We knew there'd be trouble before we got here. We can't just leave at the first sign." When he said that, Courtney realized what the other older wizards were doing; they were all getting prepared to Apparate away.

Courtney had never tried Side-Along Apparition before, and if her mum's stories were anything to go by it was not a pleasant experience. She appreciated the warning, just in case they did end up having to leave.

"We should still stay prepared," Vesta told him without loosening her grip on Lisanna's hand. "These Light guys have Vector and Lochram. I'd wager they were caught off guard. When the time comes, we _won't_ get caught off guard."

Reiner nodded once at that, then turned back to face the pathway. There were a pair of doors on the other end. "Let's keep moving, for now. Then… we… ca-can…" Reiner suddenly collapsed to the ground. Then Gwen fell as well, followed by Vestam then Darrell. Courtney didn't notice when her world suddenly turned black.

* * *

What was on top of her? Courtney could feel something heavy pressing down on her head as she opened her eyes. She tried to get used to the sudden light, and had to blink a few times in order to see around her.

A figure, dressed in the same oversized clothing and bandaged face, looked at Courtney, though as far as she could see he was little more than a blur. "Two more just woke up," he called to someone Courtney couldn't see.

"I see," someone said from behind Courtney. She tried to turn around but whatever was weighing down on her head wouldn't let her. There was something familiar about the voice. Had she heard it before? In the… the bowl of memories? What was that thing called again? "That leaves just three left. So far, you know, they've been waking up an average of a full hour earlier than the statistics would indicate. I raise the hypothesis that wizards process it faster and as a result recover more quickly."

None of what they were saying made much sense to Courtney. She tried looking up to see what was on her head. Despite the strain on her neck she managed to look up, though she saw nothing there.

"Well, what do you know? Albus, welcome back to the real world," a third voice said off to the side.

Courtney heard a moan coming from that general direction. Albus? He was here? But he was in the other group, the one with Teddy and James and Rose…

Where was Lynne? And where were all the others? The more Courtney asked herself these silent questions, the more the weight on her head disappeared, and the less blurry the room she was in became.

She looked to the sides and saw that her hands and feet were both bound by iron cuffs. Her feet attached to the ground, her hands attached to each other. Her robe was gone, replaced with a plain white shirt and trousers. All around her were plenty of other people, equally bound and dressed the same. Among them, she saw Lynne right beside her, still asleep standing up. Albus was further away, and there was a tall man in his twenties talking to him. Not far away, Courtney heard the sound of Gwen struggling to break free of her cuffs, to no effect.

Others in the room, Courtney did not recognize at all, not even from her times passing through the other common rooms or Diagon Alley.

This must be where the Light kept their prisoners. So where were Vector and Lochram? Where was Scorpius?

Lynne slowly blinked, opening her eyes. Then she let out a small groan.

"That's the last of them," the first Light guy said. "Go get Turing."

"Aye-aye," the other replied, already walking out of the room. Through the clouds in her brain, Courtney tried to memorize that path. A way out of here.

The first figure paced past the row of wizards, looking each of them in the eyes. Thanks to his sunglasses, he could see their eyes but none of them could see his. Somehow, more than anything else, _that_ was what made him seem inhuman.

The door opened. Another figure wearing the same freakish clothing as the rest of the Light stepped forward.

"Welcome back, Turing," the third Light figure said. "There's a whole lot more than last time around."

"I'm not blind, you know," Turing replied. He looked around, his gaze landing on Courtney once, some of the others twice. Albus and James were the only ones Turing looked at three times before turning back to the other two Light members. "Bacon, Aleksander, you both can go. I'll handle this."

Aleksander? The same guy who had impersonated Scorpius? Was that how Courtney recognized his voice. No… as far as she knew, she had only ever heard him speak in Scorpius's voice.

The two Light members - Bacon and Aleksander - gave brief waves before leaving the room. At that point, the barely conscious wizards were left alone with Turing.

"Hello, everyone," Turing said. "It's time for me to ask you some questions."


	19. Chapter 19: Turing Compatible

Chapter Nineteen

Turing Compatible

"I think I'll start with you," Turing said. Courtney couldn't see who he was looking at. "I see that, of all of you, you were the first to wake up after being brought here. Do you know why that is?"

"No," Courtney heard Reiner's voice say.

"You are one of the younger wizards in the group, but every wizard younger than you were actually the ones who took longest to wake up. My personal thought? I think it's because you're the heaviest wizard in your group. In Muggles, weight is one of the most important factors in how long you're unconscious. Trust me, I know. We tested the gas on ourselves."

Turing patted the front of his sweatshirt. Although every member of the Light looked the same in that oversized clothing, Courtney could guess that Turing was trying to emphasize his own size.

Gas. Was that what knocked them all out? Some invisible gas that none of them even noticed until they were unconscious? If the Light had something like that, it would explain how Vector and Lochram had been caught off guard when they came here.

Reiner was not in the mood to discuss weight. "Where's our headmistress?"

"Someone's upset," Turing laughed. "Believe me, you'll get to see Septima Vector soon, as well as Vander Lochram and Scorpius Malfoy. The sooner our questions are answered, the sooner you'll be reunited with them."

"Ask away," Reiner grunted.

"How long has magic existed?"

"How the hell would I know that?"

"Nobody knows for sure," Lynne murmured. "Hogwarts has existed for just over a thousand years. The last wizard to live among Muggles, using magic extensively and becoming involved in Muggle culture, lived two thousand years ago. The Ollivander family's been crafting wands since almost four hundred years before that. Far as anyone in living memory knows, the earliest known wizard lived twelve hundred years before that. So magic's been around at least…"

"Thirty-six hundred years," Brent finished.

"Thank you, both," Turing said. "Now, how is it that this third-year knew when you didn't."

"She pays attention in History of Magic," Courtney said. Even when her mind was a mess, she still felt the need to help. "Hardly anyone does."

"Right. Professor Binns, the incredibly boring teacher at Hogwarts," Turing muttered. "So when do wizards… _learn_ that they are wizards. In my experience, the earliest signs of magic happen at age seven, but they are not obvious unless you're looking for them until age ten."

At first, Courtney didn't understand the question. After all, she'd known she was a witch pretty much her whole life. Then again… what about a Muggleborn who had no idea that magic exists? They wouldn't realize they were wizards until they started using accidental magic, which almost always happens at age seven.

"You're a wizard," Ursula said to Turing. Evidently, she had come to the same conclusion as Courtney, albeit more quickly. "A Muggleborn."

Turing shook his head. "No. Pure Muggle here. I'll admit I do have a Muggleborn relative, though. Quite a few members of the Faction of Light are related to wizards."

Like the siblings in the Pensieve, Courtney realized. One sibling had been a Muggleborn wizard, the other a Muggle. The brother had insisted his magic made him superior, while the sister had tried to be something she wasn't by taking his wand. That's what the Pensieve was trying to show them!

"Age seven," Brent said. "Almost always. It's part of why seven is considered such a powerful number. It's when magical ability shows itself for the first time. When kids start to use magic by accident."

"Thank you," Turing said. "I guess asking specific people is a waste of time. So I'll start asking you all at once. Next question: Do any of you know where Muggleborns come from?"

There was a pause. Then Fred Weasley spoke. "They come from Muggles."

Turing rested his bandaged face on his hand. "Yeah, I pretty much walked into that one. Let me try again. When wizards have children, the kids are usually more wizards. Sometimes you'll get a Squib, sure. But so _many_ wizards are born to Muggle parents. Since magic is something decided at birth - either you have it or you don't - how is it that so many Muggles, who have zero magic in them, can have kids who are just as powerful as any wizard?"

"Some believe that all Muggleborns are descended from Squibs," Teddy said. "The magic isn't really gone, but it stays dormant for generations."

"Really? So all Muggleborns are actually… Squib-borns, I guess? Thing is, though, there are differences between Muggles and Squibs. Things that are enchanted so Muggles can't see them, like Diagon Alley? Squibs can see them just fine. The spell on King's Cross Station that makes Muggles look away whenever someone passes through the barrier? Squibs can see it just fine. Squibs can create potions, something no Muggle can do, and potions will affect them every now and then. Of course, they have a greater resistance to most potions than wizards do. Aleksander, he's a Squib. He's all but immune to truth potion, but he could make his own Polyjuice. That's part of why we sent him specifically to Hogwarts. The other part is, well, the fact that at first he was the only one who could see it."

There was a spell on King's Cross that made Muggles look away when someone passed through the barrier? Well, that explained a lot.

Courtney didn't ignore the implications in Turing's last sentence. _At first_ Aleksander, being a Squib, was the only one who could see Hogwarts.

"We tried this before," Turing continued. "Euclid's brother is a wizard, so by the Squib-born theory, that means at least one of their parents should've been a Squib, right? But guess what? They can't brew potions. They can't see Diagon Alley. Cats hate both of them. In all respects, they're not Squibs. They're Muggles. And that goes into the second issue. Aren't Squibs supposed to be incredibly rare? Rarer than Muggleborns? If Muggleborns are so common, how can they _all_ be descended from Squibs?"

"That one's explainable enough," Boone said. "While there are a couple exceptions…" He turned his head as much as he could toward Victoire. "Usually wizard families don't have nearly as many kids as Muggle families. Squibs usually marry into Muggle families, so of course there's going to be plenty of kids who are descended from Squibs."

"That makes a little sense," Turing admitted. "It still doesn't explain how Muggleborns can be descended from Squibs when they don't have Squib parents. But it's becoming increasingly clear that nobody knows that one. Even Septima Vector couldn't answer that question."

"Do you have any more questions?" Teddy asked.

"Just one. This one, Vector and the others refused to answer. Are there any spells for transferring magic from one person to another?"

"That's what this is about," Natalya realized. " _That_ 's the Light's goal? You're abducting wizards, threatening our school, all so we can transfer magic to you guys? So you can be the ones with power, while the wizards are stuck as Muggles?"

"Of course not." He reached toward his sunglasses, but stopped before touching them. "Our goal is to get magic transferred to _everyone_."

Courtney's eyes widened. Turing didn't notice.

"'For too long, magic has been kept from the Muggle population'," Turing quoted the Howlers the Light had sent. "We learned as much about the source of magic as Malfoy knew, then we kept him here both as leverage and to study him. He, along with your teachers, are being examined at a genetic level to determine where in the genes, if anywhere, magical ability exists. We went to a lot of effort to find Hogwarts - it's Unplottable, you know, can't show up on a map. We had to place exact labels on a map just on the off chance that at some point one of the labels would disappear.

"We had Aleksander go to Hogwarts for a time, to learn everything the British magical education system had to teach about where magic came from, and we plan to send him to Beauxbatons next. Yes, we threatened your school. And it worked. We got you guys to come here, and you were cooperative enough in answering my questions. All so we can learn how to transfer magic to Muggles. Not for us, specifically. For _all_ Muggles, all over the world."

"But that's insane!" Rose protested. "You can't just have billions of wizards running wild! Magic is dangerous if it's not under control!"

"So who should control it?" Turing questioned. "As it is, the wizarding population lets _children_ have magic. They teach _Wingardium Leviosa_ in first year! Eleven-year-olds who can make things float with a flick of the wrist. Do you think that wizards _deserve_ magic more than Muggles do? Because I grew up during Lord Voldemort's reign. He targeted Muggles. He _killed_ Muggles. Muggles who had no way of defending themselves because they couldn't do magic, not even for defensive spells. And I know he's not the only wizard criminal in history. So clearly, the Ministry doesn't have magic 'under control'.

"But please, go on about how giving people magic is 'insane'. About how _insane_ it is that I don't want my kids to get upset over who has magic and who doesn't. How insane it is that people all over the world with cancer have the _nerve_ to think that magical healing would be just great. That people who don't have enough food for their families to survive might want to duplicate what they have, or create rain to make growing food easier, or Apparate somewhere where it's less scarce, or any of the _thousand_ options that wizards have but Muggles don't."

"So, what? The Light's the good guys? That what you're saying?" Darrell asked. "If you seriously thought you were in the right, you'd have just _told us_ all this from the beginning instead of kidnapping, threatening, and drugging us to get us to comply."

"If we hadn't, what would you have done?" Turing shot back. "We _could_ have gone to the incompetent Ministry of Magic. We _could_ have explained our stance and why we wanted to research magic. The one thing we couldn't do? Leave the Ministry with all our memories intact. Because we're Muggles who know magic exists, so without leverage the Ministry will erase what we are. I imagine there were countless groups before the Light with the same goal. They were nicer, and tried to peacefully negotiate with the Ministry, and that's why they're not around anymore."

"I understand," Elijah said. "I don't know when your last interaction with the wizarding world was, but there's this group now called the Light Magic Movement that's trying to get Muggles the right to know about magic. If the Faction of Light just waited a few years for the LMM to succeed, you could be free to discuss this with the Ministry."

"I actually didn't know about this movement. But waiting years just for the chance that _maybe_ the LMM will succeed, especially since it doesn't do anything to ensure the magic transfer, just isn't an option. Anyway, you've answered all the questions I had. Sorry, but it's time to take you all to the Genetic Chamber."

"And that is?" Teddy asked.

"In the Genetic Chamber, you'll be made unconscious, suspended in cells, and every bit of your DNA will be examined so we can try and see where the magic comes from. The more subjects, the better. Once we find out where it is, we can use that knowledge to turn Muggles all over the world into wizards. If it helps, it's supposed to be painless. And as long as you're still conscious you can see your friends."

Vector, Lochram, and Scorpius. They were in the Genetic Chamber.

Turing reached into a pocket on his coat and pulled out a key. He placed the key into Teddy's cuffs and unlocked them. He proceeded to repeat the process one-by-one with each of the captive wizards. When he reached Lynne, Courtney could hear a faint whisper from him.

Then he reached Courtney and repeated his whisper to her. "I need you to overpower me. I'm getting you out of here."

* * *

Author's Note:

Yeah... This is the longest chapter I've written in this series so far, and this is awesome.


	20. Chapter 20: The Genetic Chamber

Chapter Twenty

 **The Genetic Chamber**

Turing was going to help them escape? After explaining exactly why he believed in the Faction of Light's cause?

He had whispered it, rather than telling them all at once. The only reason he would do that…

He was being watched and didn't want the rest of the Light to know what he was up to. Turing was a traitor to the Light.

He finished removing the cuffs from the last wizards. Then he addressed the group.

"Along the way, none of you will be restrained but all of you will be watched, so don't go doing anything stupid before we get to the Genetic Chamber."

The second meaning was clear. Pretend to overpower Turing and escape, but not until they reach the Chamber. It didn't matter. Even if Turing really were an enemy, Courtney had zero intention of leaving without Vector, Lochram, and Scorpius.

Turing opened the nearest door and led the group through the halls.

"So what's with the outfits?" Clara asked.

"To avoid letting wizards see us," Turing explained. "Oversized coats so you can't see our body types, bandages wrapping our faces so you can't see our skin tones, sunglasses so you can't see our eyes. Even our voices are kept disguised so wizards who want to Obliviate us won't know who we are."

"Is that why you use those codenames?" Brent questioned.

"Why bandages to hide your face, though?" Courtney wondered. "Wouldn't it be easier to use a mask?"

"You are preaching to the bloody choir there. I was one of the people who'd suggested that. But _no_ , Euclid _doesn't_ _like_ masks, so I'm here feeling like my face is in the Atlantic over a fashion choice."

Turing opened a final door and led the wizards inside. In the center of the room were several dozen large transparent tubes. Most of the tubes were empty, save for the three nearest to the group. Floating in those three tubes were Scorpius, Vector, and Lochram.

"This is the Genetic Chamber," Turing introduced. "As you can see, your friends are here, asleep - well, sort of - and totally unharmed. One at a time, I'm going to get you all prepared and put you in to continue the research. Since we're not the bad guys, when we have the information we need you guys are free to go. Your wands, bags, robes, and brooms will be waiting for you right here." He gestured to a large closet not far from them.

 _All of our things are in there_. Courtney decided to listen hard for all the double meanings in Turing's statements. For the sake of fooling the rest of the Light, Turing hid the fact that he just told everyone where to grab everything they needed to escape.

"So who should go first?" Turing asked.

Teddy Lupin stepped forward. Turing nodded once and led Teddy to the nearest empty tube. He pulled the tube open and waited for Teddy to step inside. When he did so, Turing closed the door and walked back to the group, his back to the tube. Courtney watched as the not-completely-sealed door swung back open while Turing has his back turned.

Teddy saw his opportunity and walked out of the tube. He dashed toward the closet that Turing had pointed out.

Turing turned around to see Teddy opening the closet. "Hey! Quit it!"

Vesta and Darrell proceeded to grab Turing's arms to try and stop him from going to the closet. Courtney followed their example, along with the majority of the rest of the group. James accompanied Teddy in taking all of their belongings from the closet.

"Alright, found all the wands…" Teddy said. "Whose wand is whose?"

Courtney could remember the exact specifications of her own wand. Alder, nineteen centimeters, unicorn hair, sturdy. But that was hardly a useful description when neither Teddy nor James were wand experts; neither would be able to tell which of the various wands was made of alder, or any of the others.

They took six wands from the pile. "We've got ours," Teddy said. "Here's yours, Victoire, Boone."

"And yours," James added, handing a pair of wands to Albus and Rose.

Courtney couldn't help being impressed, but she had to admit that when you spent enough time with someone you learned to recognize their wands. How long, she wondered, would it take for her to be able to recognize Lynne or Elijah's wands in a pile?

Teddy and James joined in restraining Turing. "If the rest of you want to go get your wands, now's the time," Teddy said.

Lisanna was the first to take off toward the closet. Everyone else ran with her, leaving Albus, Rose, James, Teddy, Victoire, and Boone to hold Turing back.

Courtney looked through the pile to try and find her wand. The assorted sticks, shuffled around by the hands of her companions, looked mostly unfamiliar to her. She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked to see Lynne holding out Courtney's wand.

Courtney took her wand from Lynne's hand. "Thanks," she said. So not only could Courtney not recognize Lynne's wand, she couldn't even find her _own_ as well as Lynne could.

"And our brooms… and our bags…" Genale said. "We have what we need to Apparate out of here and be back at Hogwarts."

Ursula looked at Turing. "How do we get the others out of the tubes?"

"I won't talk," Turing said. Clearly, he had no way of answering that without his superiors realizing what he was doing.

"There's a hidden button for opening them," James stated. Courtney had no idea how he had figured that out, but she watched as James opened a panel under Professor Vector's tube and messed around inside. Her tube opened up, a cloud of light grey smoke emerged, and Professor Vector fell out, coughing. Clara and Natalya looked for the same panels beneath Lochram and Scorpius's tubes and watched as they too were freed.

Vector was the first to recover her senses. "Thank you," she said. "For freeing all of us."

"The rest of the Light's watching us," Gwen pointed out. "We don't have much time. Let's get out now."

"Of course," Vector said. "We… wait… Where's Raisel?"

"Your owl?" Turing said incredulously. "Euclid's main office. You're not seriously thinking of going to get the owl, are you? You've got to get out of here _now_."

Turing paused for a moment, then slapped his forehead and swore when he realized what he had just said in front of every Light member watching.

The doors to the Genetic Chamber slammed shut. The lights in the room turned an ominous shade of red.

"Are we going to get drugged again?" Rose asked.

"No. But the Genetic Chamber's on lockdown to prevent any of us from escaping. Well, you guys could escape. But I already know Muggles can't Side-Along Apparate. This is mostly so _I_ can't get out so I can be punished for helping you escape."

"Fear not," Professor Lochram said. "For we shall not leave you, our attempted savior, in distress, not when it was brought about by your own rescue of us."

"No, you need to leave _now_ ," Turing continued. "If they're doing a lockdown of the Genetic Chamber that means they're giving up in the _Fazione di Luce_ and they're going to continue in one of the backup headquarters - the _Fatria tou Fotos_ or the _Hikari no Habatsu_ are most likely. And they're trying to get test subjects _before you can warn them_. They're headed straight for Hogwarts to grab as many wizards as they can _as we speak_."

"Hogwarts has Asmius and Longbottom," Boone said. "And that's normally. Right now they've got top Aurors in addition to that. There's no way these guys can get past all of Hogwarts's defenses."

"They've been training for specifically this and Hogwarts has no idea what's coming," Turing countered. "You've got to go warn everyone. Don't worry about me or Raisel, just go save the school."

"No," James suddenly said. "We're a big group. Let's split up. Some of us escape and Apparate to Hogwarts. The others get you out of here and finds Raisel. Albus, you and me are part of the 'staying here' group. I'll need your help."

"How are these doors sealed?" Vector questioned. "Electronically, correct?" Turing nodded. "In large quantities, magic causes electronic devices to fail. If enough of us use a heavy amount of magic here, we can stop the door from working and force it open. Once we get that accomplished, we'll split the groups up."

" _Lumos!_ " Professor Lochram exclaimed. A burst of white light formed.

" _Glacius!_ " Dekka called.

" _Wingardium Leviosa!_ " Rose shouted.

Courtney gripped her wand and searched her mind for every spell she knew. Immediately, she thought of the one spell that would be more magically powerful than any other she had. She looked at Vector, Lochram, and Scorpius, successfully freed from their tubes and about to be brought back to Hogwarts.

" _Expecto Patronum!_ " The silver Eurasian beaver appeared before her as the others continued shouting their own spells.

" _Expulso_ ," Scorpius muttered. The electronically sealed door turned into a huge hole in the wall. "There. Done."

"Thank you," Turing said. "Now you can get back to Hogwarts. Hell, if Raisel's that important, _I'll_ get him for you."

"Relax, I've got a plan," James said. "Anyone who's going to Hogwarts, get moving. Anyone staying here with us follow us."

Most of the other wizards took their wands and belongings and Apparated away. The last to vanish was Professor Vector. "Good luck," she said before Disapparating.

When she was gone, the only remaining wizards standing with Turing were James, Albus, Courtney, Lynne, Rose, Scorpius, Elijah, and Natalya.

"So what's the plan?" Turing asked.

"Well, first off, long-distance Apparition is a big _no_ ," James pointed out. "They're going to make plenty of stops going all the way to Hogwarts. So I made sure to have a faster way to warn the people there." He took a bag from the closet. "Behold, my brilliance." He took a broken piece of glass from the bag and showed it to the others. "This is a two-way mirror. It's for communication. I gave the other mirror to my sister Lily just before we left." Courtney remembered the slight shimmer she'd seen from James's sleeve when he had led Lily away.

"What?" he continued. "Did any of you _really_ think I was going to bring a group of first-years into danger like this? Anyway, the plan is that I talk to Lily and let her know what the Light people are doing at Hogwarts, while Albus tells _me_ what the Light people are doing at Hogwarts."

At that point, Albus's eyes lit up with realization. He took something from his own bag. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

"Now we wait for Albus to find some of your Light guys on the Map," James continued. "When he sees them, I tell Lily where they are, and she can tell Dad and Longbottom and the others. Boom. Hogwarts stays safe. And now, while we're waiting, we can go look for Raisel so we can get all of us, including you, out of here. Oh! That reminds me, speaking of you, you might want to tell them. You know, at least Albus has the right to know."

Courtney didn't know what James meant, but thankfully Turing did. "So you found out, didn't you? Well, I can't say I'm surprised."

"I didn't find out. I'm going to go back in time to tell myself, along with the trick to getting the tubes opened."

Turing chuckled. "All right." He pulled down the hood of his oversized coat and started to unwrap the bandages from around his face. After about forty-five seconds, the bandages were lying in a pile on the floor and Albus's eyes had widened.

"Uncle Dudley?"


	21. Chapter 21: Too Much

Chapter Twenty-One

Too Much

Courtney had heard of Dudley Dursley, of course. Harry Potter's Muggle cousin that he'd lived with as a child. Albus, James, and Lily had visited Dudley last summer, along with nearly every other summer and winter break, spending time with his kids. Courtney had read Albus's letters on the subject, but couldn't for the life of her remember the Dursley kids' names.

Dursley nodded. "Yeah. It's me. I'm sorry about, well, everything. At least everything related to the drugging and experimenting on you."

"Don't worry about it," Albus dismissed. He peered into the Map. "The only people on the grounds outside the castle right now are Dad, the other Aurors, and Hagrid."

"The rest of the Faction and your friends haven't gotten there yet," Dursley said.

James held up the mirror fragment. "Lily? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah," Courtney heard Lily say. "So the Light is on its way now?"

"Er, yes," James replied. His confusion turned to understanding. "I already told you that they'd be coming when I called."

"Yeah, an hour ago."

James looked away from the mirror shard and faced the others. "Shoot. That's my cue." He reached for the hourglass around his neck, turned it once, and disappeared.

At the same time he vanished, he reappeared a few meters away, shrugging off the Invisibility Cloak. He had a small cut on his face that hadn't been there before. As if nothing happened, the new James looked at his own mirror shard and spoke to Lily. "Yeah. Look for Longbottom, Asmius, Torrindale, Hagrid, anyone really, and let them know the Light's coming."

Something about the mirror shard confused Courtney. It was supposed to be two-way, yet James had brought it back in time with it. For the past hour, there were three shards in the world. Why did Lily specifically see the original one until it was gone and now saw through the new one? Was it just a default for the original mirror vanishing? Or did the new one being under the Invisibility Cloak somehow prevent Lily from seeing through it?

"Also," James continued. "Vector and Lochram are on their way to help. So's Teddy and Victoire and Fred and a few others."

"The Light has been preparing tricks just in case we felt the need to attack Hogwarts," Dursley said. "They have long-range weaponry and sights. Most of it's nonlethal, for obvious reasons, but they do have bigger stuff just in case. Aleksander told them as much as he could find about the layout of Hogwarts, so they'll have plenty of hiding places to fire from."

"They can try and hide, but it won't work," Albus said.

"Right," James agreed.

"Is that Uncle Dudley?" Lily asked.

"Hi, Lily."

"Look, just go find someone and tell them that the Faction of Light is headed to Hogwarts. Let me know when you tell someone."

"Aye-aye!"

James put the mirror fragment back into his bag. "Perfect. Now let's find Raisel and get out of here."

"Follow me," Dursley said. "Out of every room in the building, I'd wager the owl's being kept in Euclid's office. It's a big room, and more importantly Euclid would want to be in the same room as Raisel _just in case_ Vector somehow escaped and tried to free it."

"So there's no doubt Euclid's office is going to be trapped," Natalya reasoned. "The kind of traps that even Vector could fall for."

"I wouldn't put it past him," Dursley admitted.

He led the way through the building. Left turn, right turn, another right turn, through a doorway.

"Hey!" a Light member shouted as he saw them make a turn.

"I thought they were headed for Hogwarts!" Courtney said.

"Not all of them," Lynne noted. "Not while we're still here."

"Everyone! They're over here!" the Light member continued. It didn't take long for several more Light members to get close to the group.

"Dammit, Archimedes! Not cool!" Dursley exclaimed.

" _Avada Kedavra_ ," Scorpius muttered.

The Light member - Archimedes - swore as he desperately leaped out of the path of the bright green jet of light.

"Dammit, Malfoy! Even less cool!"

" _Expelliarmus!_ " Albus called out. The wand flew from Scorpius's hand. Courtney picked up the fallen wand before Scorpius could grab it.

Archimedes scrambled to his feet. "Sod it, I'm out of here!" He started to run in the opposite direction, tripping a couple times before he was out of sight. Two or three of the other Light members followed his example and backed away. The rest slowed down, but still hesitantly approached the group.

Courtney thought about the spells they'd learned in Defense class. So many of the combat spells were intended for _duelling_ with _wizards_. There was hardly anything on incapacitating multiple Muggles. One of whom was reaching for something that looked suspiciously like…

" _Protego!_ " she exclaimed at the same moment that she heard the gunshot. The Shield Charm emerged, but the bullet ignored it. It passed right through the shield without even slowing and grazed Elijah's neck.

"Elijah!" Courtney shouted.

Blood flowed from the cut at a rate far faster than Courtney was comfortable with.

"We've got to get him out of here," Dursley said.

"This would be easier if I had my wand," Scorpius pointed out.

 _Easier_ , sure, at least at the moment. If they just went through the building, killing every Light member left and right it would certainly be _easy_ to escape. But… Courtney remembered the Dark wizard she, Lynne, and Albus had seen in the Pensieve two years ago. The gleeful way he had murdered defenseless Muggles until Salazar and Godric stopped him. Scorpius hadn't been there to see that… No. There was no way Courtney would ever kill people, or allow her friends to kill people, just because it's _easier_.

"The injury's too big for _Episkey_ ," Courtney said. "Does anyone know any better healing spells?"

"Other than 'get to the infirmary', no," James replied. " _Stupefy!_ " One of the Light members, the one who had shot Elijah, staggered back a little. The giant winter coat had absorbed most of the spell's impact.

"Shoot," Albus muttered. "They're there. There's a few Light members on Hogwarts grounds."

Courtney looked everywhere. The advancing Light members, at least one of whom was armed. Elijah, on the ground bleeding heavily. They needed to get out of here, and now Albus and James would have their attention at least partially focused on Lily and Hogwarts. Courtney had to do _something_ , but _what_?

"Albus, can I see your bag?" Lynne asked.

Without a word, Albus tossed his pouch to Lynne. She started to look around inside for a second, pulling a contraption out of the bag, before holding up her wand. " _Accio Powder!_ "

Black powder shot from the bag toward her wand, scattering pure blackness into the air around it. She put her wand down and tossed the powder everywhere around her. _Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder._ As the light faded from the room even further, Lynne grabbed Courtney and Rose's hands. "Run!"

Dursley picked up Elijah and ran as well. Albus, James, Natalya, and Scorpius took off in the same direction.

"They're getting away!" a Light agent called.

Courtney heard a loud crash in the opposite direction.

"This way!" the same Light agent continued. The room faded to pitch blackness as the sound of the Light attackers got more and more distant.

* * *

Author's Note: Wow. I'm really sorry that it took so long to post this chapter. That said, first chapter of the year! In the (more than necessary) time it took to complete this chapter, I plotted out some more future events that I hope you will all enjoy.


	22. Chapter 22: Euclid

Chapter Twenty-Two

Euclid

Eventually, the group stopped running. The space around them was still too dark to see anything, but Courtney tried to figure out where everyone was in relation to each other.

"That was the Decoy Detonator, wasn't it?" Albus asked.

There was a silence, and then Lynne said, "Yeah. Sorry. I nodded, but then I remembered."

"Score two for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes," Rose breathed.

"It was a good short-term plan," Dursley said seriously. "But we're farther from both Euclid and the exit now, this kid needs medical attention immediately, and I doubt Albus can read the Map without light."

" _Lumos_ ," Lynne said.

Nothing happened. "Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder is immune to most light spells," Rose said.

"Lily?" James's voice whispered. "You there? The Light has gotten to Hogwarts. Albus, do you remember where on the grounds they are?"

"I think they were close to the train stop," Albus said. His voice was surprisingly close to where Courtney was standing, enough to startle her even further.

"James?" Lily's voice. "I can't see you, the mirror's all black."

"It's just really dark here is all," James assured. "Let Dad and the others know that the Light Faction is over where the Hogwarts Express stops. Oh, and let us know if you see Vector and Teddy and the others. Talk to them if you can."

"James, you can Apparate, right?" Natalya questioned. "Any chance you could get Elijah out of here?"

James was silent for a few moments. "I think so. Elijah would have a risk of Splinching, though. Course, Splinching is fixable… Okay. I'll do it. Natalya, take the mirror to talk to Lily. I want it back after this is done."

They spent a few seconds awkwardly making noise to try and find each other so James could give Natalya the mirror fragment. "Okay. Uncle Dudley, can you pass Elijah to me?"

After another few moments of awkward shuffling, Courtney heard Dursley's voice. "Good luck."

"See you," James said.

"Do either of you know how long it takes for the powder to wear off?" That was Lynne.

"Only a few minutes," Rose said. "When it clears, what are we going to do about all those Light members?"

"My Shield Charm didn't work," Courtney muttered. "Like it wasn't even there."

"I'm sure it must have slowed the bullet a little," Lynne assured. "Those things are way too fast for the difference to have been visible."

"Disarming," Dursley said. "Like you did to Scorpius. If it works on wands, will it work on nonmagical arms?"

"Probably," Natalya replied. "Do you have a gun we can test it on?"

"No," Dursley said. "They wouldn't give me a gun just to ask questions and bring you to the Genetic Chamber. Even if I did have a gun, though, I'm sure as hell not going to pick it up when I can't even see any of you."

"Sneak up on a lone Light member, hit him with a Stunner, and take his gun," Scorpius said. "Then you can do your test."

"Or… if there's an armed Light member we can just do the test on them," Rose replied.

"I found Teddy!" Lily's voice called out.

"Awesome," Albus said. "Tell him and the others James and Elijah are coming."

Over the next few seconds, the air turned from black to gray to clear. There were no other Light members around, but Courtney couldn't see any paths either.

"Oh, no," Dursley said, noticing the same thing. "They locked us in. Put up a wall. Now they're probably going to gas us again. Maybe they already started while we were talking."

"Glass. Give. Me. My wand."

"Anyone else want to blow up the wall?" Courtney asked.

"At this point, with pleasure," Rose replied. " _Expulso!_ " A blast shot from her wand, heavily denting the nearest wall. "Anyone want to join in? It's surprisingly stress-relieving."

" _Expulso!_ " Courtney joined in. The blast shot from both her and Scorpius's wands to do a little more damage than Rose had done.

" _Expulso!_ " Lynne continued. "You're right. After everything the Faction of Light's done, it feels so… _good_ to blow up their stuff."

"At the rate you're breaking through these walls, this might actually be the fastest way to Euclid's office," Dursley said. "Shortcut it is."

Courtney, Lynne, Rose, Albus, and Natalya continued blasting through the walls. Each time a sufficiently sized hole in the wall was made, Dursley and Scorpius went through with them.

"Tell Lily to get down, _now!_ " Albus suddenly shouted.

Natalya repeated his instructions into the mirror.

There was a sharp _whizz_ ing sound through the glass shard. "Thank you!" Lily breathed.

"They're shooting darts at us," Teddy's voice called out. "I'd guess some kind of knockout drug."

Courtney felt a little relief from that. At least they were using the nonlethal shots to attack Hogwarts. Then she remembered that the only reason they were doing that was to bring living wizards to one of their other buildings. She imagined Lily being hit. Her unconscious body being carried back to whatever vehicle they were taking. Lily being driven to a foreign location and suspended in a tube just like Scorpius had been. Worse; thanks to Courtney and the others, the Light knew that knockout drugs wore off more quickly in wizards, so they'd be carrying her as fast as they could to get her there before she woke up.

"Teddy, can you Disarm them?" Natalya asked.

"One sec… _Expelliarmus!_... Yeah, it works. There's too many of them for it to be effective, though."

"It'll still hold them off," Dursley insisted. "Slow them down as much as you can. Get Asmius and Longbottom and everyone you can to Disarm and take out the Light."

"Understood. We'll stay here and hold off the Light. Lily, go back into the castle and get backup."

Natalya put the mirror back into a bag. "Great. Let's wrap this up."

"Euclid's office should be right-"

Dursley's words were cut off by a door opening and the figure jumping out at them. A second figure stood behind him, still in the room. Only the one in the room was wearing the same outfit as the rest of the Faction of Light. The other one was dressed in the same robe that the wizard captives had been wearing before.

"Turing," the figure in the room said.

"Euclid," Dursley responded. He turned to the other man. "Aleksander."

"You're a traitor," Euclid noted. "Wizard society is the enemy for a reason. You ally yourself with that rich child who cast the Killing Curse against one of our own people."

"And one of the Light shot a wizard child," Dursley retorted. "With a _gun_. Wizards aren't the enemy; they're just defending themselves."

"The black kid who was shot is going to a magical infirmary where his injuries will be treated in an instant. We have no defense or means of healing against that curse, and if one of us were struck with a bullet we would not have access to the same medical aid that he has. Had he hit his intended target, we would have had a fatality."

Aleksander looked Dursley in the eye. "We listened to everything you said to the wizards before. You _know_ that wizards are too powerful. You _know_ that Muggles need magic just as much as wizards do. You _know_ that the fact that there are so relatively few wizards in the world means they can get away with a corrupt government that treats us like trash. With Muggles gaining magic, we could enter their society and turn it around for the better. You know exactly why the Faction of Light needs to succeed. And you still chose to betray that."

"Not like this!" Dursley countered. "The wizarding government is corrupt, yes. They've tossed people into Azkaban without trials, they did the same thing to people they knew were scapegoats, and up until barely twenty years ago they did whatever his grandfather said." He tilted his head to Scorpius. "Nobody's arguing with you about that. But you're not going to _improve_ wizarding society by filling it with people who'll kidnap and experiment on _children_."

"Only temporarily," Euclid argued. "A few children undergo temporary observation in the Genetic Chamber, which is relatively harmless -"

"Glass, _please_ give me my wand."

Euclid continued as though Scorpius hadn't spoken. "And in the end, it will benefit far more people, children included, for a much longer period of time."

Courtney focused on Euclid's arguments. This was just like when Dursley was interrogating them. Euclid honestly believed that experimenting on wizards would be worth it.

"'For the greater good,'" Albus muttered.

"And I suppose you have an explanation for attacking Hogwarts even after we gave him back?" Rose demanded, glancing at Aleksander.

"Septima Vector and Vander Lochram brought me back here, that's true," Aleksander said. "They still used Disillusionment Charms to try to ambush the Light operatives. And the attack at the school is just to get more test subjects to replace the ones Turing here cost us."

That snapped Courtney back to reality. _More test subjects_. Lily, Hugo, the Scamanders, Dekka, Willow, Henry, Des, Polaris, Longbottom, Asmius, Torrindale, Hagrid… And she doubted it would stop at Hogwarts either.

Courtney's grip tightened around the wands in her hand. She started to raise them both.

" _Stupefy!_ " Lynne shouted before Courtney could cast her spell.

Aleksander fell to the ground from the direct hit.

" _Accio bandages_ ," Courtney called. She remembered the Light member whose facial covering had protected him from the spell. This would leave Euclid vulnerable.

The bandages flew awkwardly off of Euclid's face. When the bandages were gone, Euclid's face was visible. To Courtney's surprise, Euclid was a woman with graying hair, staring right at them.

Euclid seemed to understand Courtney's strategy. She raised her arms as if in surrender. "Go ahead and Stun me with your _superior_ magic."

Superior… Courtney's eyes widened. "You're…"

" _Stupefy!_ " Albus shouted. And Euclid, the sister from the Pensieve, hit the ground.


	23. Chapter 23: The Ministry of Magic

Chapter Twenty-Three

The Ministry of Magic

Courtney helped Dursley pick up the unconscious Apollion and Euclid. "What are we doing with them?"

"Taking them to the Ministry," Dursley said. "They can figure out what to do with them."

The Ministry of Magic… The one that Dursley had _just_ admitted was corrupt and would throw people into Azkaban without a trial…

Scorpius joined them in grabbing the two Light members. Lynne and Rose were looking through the room in search of Raisel. Albus and Natalya were sitting to the side, giving information through the mirror to Hogwarts.

"Euclid and Aleksander have both been taken out," Natalya said. "Find a way to get that information to the Light members who are attacking. If nothing else, that'll slow them down."

A loud flutter appeared in the silence. "Found him!" Rose declared.

"It worked," came the voice of Fred Weasley. "Some of them are retreating!"

Courtney exhaled a sigh of relief. It looked like the Light's attack on Hogwarts would really be resolved in Hogwarts' favor without any fatalities on either side.

"We're leaving now," Albus said to the mirror. "We're taking these two to the Ministry."

"We'll fly out," Lynne decided. "We have enough brooms… Mr. Dursley, Euclid, and Aleksander can't use them on their own, so they'll need to share with someone else."

At the exit, Albus and Rose carried Euclid and Aleksander on their brooms, respectively. Lynne held on to Raisel, and Dursley rode behind Scorpius.

* * *

"We're busy. Is this important?"

"We have two members of the Faction of Light, including their leader," Dursley said.

"Now that they've been apprehended, punishment is in order. Right?" Scorpius asked.

"One moment." The wizard at the front of the Ministry regarded Euclid and Aleksander. Euclid had awoken once during the flight, and Aleksander had done so twice. On each of those occasions, they had been promptly Stunned again.

"Go on in."

* * *

Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt himself arrived to see the group. "Dudley Dursley. It has been a while. Rose, Albus, Scorpius, nice to see you again. I am told you have apprehended the leader of the Light Faction."

"Here she is," Dursley said, gesturing to Euclid. "I don't know her real name; we were always just supposed to call her Euclid. And this is Aleksander Apollion, a Squib who worked for the Light."

"'We'?" Shacklebolt questioned. "You were among the Light yourself?"

"He's the one who rescued us when the Light captured our group," Rose interjected. "Without him we might still be there and the attack on Hogwarts would be even worse."

Shacklebolt nodded. "I will take this into consideration. For now, let us take Euclid and Mr. Apollion into custody. Once the situation at Hogwarts has been fully resolved, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and myself will listen to the relevant information and decide what to do with them."

* * *

"Everyone settle," the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement said. She waited for the motion to stop. "We have here the Faction of Light, a Muggle organization who attacked Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, abducted a student who was at Hogsmeade, and expressed a desire to do the same at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic."

Every member of the Light Faction who was present at the Hogwarts attack had been captured by Aurors. Later, another team had gone to _Fazione di Luce_ to take in as many of the remainder as they could.

The room was filled. In addition to the Light members, Minister Shacklebolt, and the higher members of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, every one of the students who had gone with Teddy to the Faction of Light was present. So were Professors Vector and Lochram, as well as some assorted faces, most of whom Courtney didn't know. Among them, Courtney recognized Scorpius's parents.

"The leader of the Faction of Light, known even to her own people by the name 'Euclid', will be the first to speak," the Department Head continued. She looked at Euclid. "Let's start with your real name. What is it?"

"My name is Ana Thomas," Euclid replied. "Muggle, but allowed to know of magic's existence due to my brother, Muggleborn wizard Jared Milano."

 _Jared Milano_. The brother from the Pensieve. That name was vaguely familiar, but Courtney had no idea where she knew it from.

The Department Head nodded. "I see. Now, tell us, what is the purpose of the Faction of Light?"

"Equality is our overall goal," Thomas said. She looked downward. "To research wizards to find what makes them… magical. To find a way to transfer magic to Muggles and thus empower all of humanity with the sort of magic that wizarding society takes for granted."

At this point, nearly everyone in the room was whispering among themselves. The Department Head waited patiently for the whispers to die down before she spoke again. "Before this questioning began, Mr. Dursley already explained much of this to Minister Shacklebolt and myself. We have agreed that your cause, at least, is legitimate and overall would benefit Muggles as a whole.

"However, this does not change the fact that you did abduct a child, attempted to abduct even more children, drugged several other children, as well as two Hogwarts professors, and used lethal force on one of the children you drugged. Do you have any justification for that?"

"As far as the Light was concerned, they were minor concerns compared to what we were doing for the greater good."

Some of the older wizards in the crowd audibly cringed when she said that.

Thomas probably had no idea that she had just destroyed any chance she or her subordinates had left.

"I see," said the taken-aback Department Head. "Before we move on, I would like you to know what will happen to the Faction of Light itself. Mr. Dursley, could you please tell everyone what you told us?"

Beside Albus, James, and Teddy, Dursley stood up. "The Faction of Light has, since its inception, been dedicated to researching magic through unethical means." He took a deep breath. "That all changes today. I'm taking over in Euclid's place. The new Faction of Light will operate in the open, in the light, where the Ministry will always have the ability to oversee us. From now on, the Light will not see wizardkind as an enemy, but as an ally. We will work with the Ministry to do as we always had - use Muggle science and technology to research magic - but the only wizards involved will be willing volunteers. No kidnapping. No involuntary drugging. No murder."

Courtney looked at Elijah. He still had a scar on his neck, though it was nowhere near as bad as it had been before.

Dursley looked to where the rest of the Light faction sat. "The new and improved Faction of Light could use as many of the old members as it can get."

The Department Head nodded. "Very w-"

Scorpius clenched his fists. "No," he interrupted. "None of the Light members were idiots. They weren't _misled_ by Euclid. They all knew exactly what they were doing. They should be _punished_ , not welcomed into a new Light!"

After a momentary pause, the Department Head continued. "You make a good point. Mr. Dursley can have the old Light members… after a time in Azkaban. Those who choose to join him will do so afterwards; those who do not will be Obliviated and returned to Muggle society."

Minister Shacklebolt stood up. "We will discuss the length of their sentences in private. Afterwards, I will speak with the Muggle Prime Minister to discuss covering up the time they will be spending in prison."

The crowd stood up and started to walk out the doors, leaving Shacklebolt, the Department, and the Faction of Light alone.

* * *

"Wow," Courtney said with a smile. "Not even noticeable anymore."

"Sometimes you can still see it if I tilt my head back like this." Elijah looked up at the ceiling, exposing the slight remnants of his scar.

It had been only a few weeks since the old Light was sent to Azkaban. Courtney, Elijah, Lynne, Albus, and Brent were sitting in the Brews and Stews Café in Hogsmeade. Rose had chosen, rather than sitting and talking in one location for the whole trip, to join Natalya and Scorpius for his first trip to Hogsmeade that _didn't_ include a kidnapping. James had likewise chosen to join Rose.

"So, we haven't really talked about the new Light, as a group," Lynne remarked. "Do you think that, with the Ministry's approval, they might seriously be able to give magic to all the Muggles in the world?"

Brent shrugged. "Who knows? They might give up. It might be impossible. Or… we might very well be looking at a world of wizardry. No more Muggles, no more Squibs…"

"One thing that's for sure," Albus summarized. "There's definitely going to be changes."

* * *

Author's Note: This is the last chapter of _Courtney Glass and the Faction of Light_. Part four, _Courtney Glass and the Prison in the North_ , will be started shortly. A link will be provided when the first chapter is written. Until then, thank you for reading the most-reviewed story I have written thus far.


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